The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1870-04-28
VOLUME 40.
CATTLE.

The idea that man can secure for any amount
of current gold and silver an animal equally good in
the stall and on the pasture dairy COW and as
meat-producing animal, is now recognized as a
utopian vision. The nearest approach to such a
happy state of things is to be found in suiting the
stock to the farm on which they are TO be kept.
Thus in rich, alluyial bottoms, where deep pasture
is to be found the greater part of the year, and
where root crops easily raised, there is no de-
scription of stock more generally profitable than the
aristocratic short horn. On light soil, under Il
genial sky, where the grasses are nutritious yet
less succulent than in river sheds and deltas the
Channel Island cattle are what ought to be kept.
Again in colder latitudes on rocky land. such As
the limestone cliffs of the West Of Ireland and the
stony hills of Southwestern Scotland, the Ayre-
Shires are pre-eminently suited. These three
breeds distinctively and individually the three
great sources of wealth from Which the farmer
may hope to draw an ineXhaustible supply.
Although the pure breed short horn is race formed
by artificial means, it now exhibits all the in
dividualites of distinct family The fineness of
the horn. the peculiar softness of the hrindled coat,
the elegance Of the head and also of the general
outline of the animal, together with the early de-
vcopment of growth, and consequent value as a
meat producer, thereby saving time and bringing
in a higher percentage on a given sum in given
time and still more the good and abundant milk
yielded by the cows, all contribute to render short
horns the best stock under favorable circumstances
where the dairy and the market are both regarded
as means of profit. On the other hand, the Ayre-
shireW thrive where the short horn will anguish
as beef cattle come up i'll just as prime order, al
though they never attain the same weight as the
| short horn; and, also, if they consume less, i'll Il
twelve month, they do not develop so quickly as
the other breed. The Channel Island cattle are
entirely suited for small and fancy farming. In
quantity and quality their milk is unsurpassed. 1t
yields butter than the milk of any other breed
of horned CATTLE and these cows are of such gentle
domestic nature, that they thrive alone; ali they
require is human friendship. They Will remain
contentedly tethered singly on a lawn, or Will
range in the open glades of park. certain to be
homeWard bound at their usual milking hours. 10
speak of these cattle meat producers. would ap-
pear out of place. They are essentially intended
for the dairy They prosper on light soil and in
warm latitudes. The many other varieties of
horned cattle next claim short notice. OF these
we will place the Devons and HerefordS side by
side The sheeted Devon, with her spreading
horns, is a noble-looking beast. She deserves all
where he is regarded as the queen of the homestead
If her milk is not abundant fully so rich
that of the Channel Island CATTLE it surely is only
second Devonshire cotted cream is of world
wide notorety. As a meat producer these cattle
stand well. The Herefords and DurhamS are
profitable stock. but they cannot stand as high as
their lordly ofshoo the short horns, in that they
are slower of development, and though they are
less delicate, are not in any way more profitable to
the careful StOckowners. The cattle raised in the
Highlands of Scotland are of several distinct breeds
They are rugged and hardy and most picturesque.
At six years old Highland steer, in prime order
for the butcher, is just good beef it is possible
to procure. These varied breeds all possess the
same hardy attributes and thrive more on rocky
pasture, where the herbagc is short and sweet, than
on richer and more succulent pastures.
Passing from the British Isles into Central
Europe, we find other varieties of horned CATTLE
France owes much to English blood. so we pass
over the somewhat mongrel breeds of la grand
nation, and hasten to take glance at the stately
creatures that still do the greater part of the work
assigned in other lands to the horse and steam EN-
gne. In sunny Italy, beyond the Alps, and at the
foot of the Apennines, are breed of long horned
gray-colored cattle, worthy of the pencil of Rosa
Bonheur. They are so gentle, so stately, and with
al so useful. that the love bestowed upon them by
the peasant farmers of Italy is not to be wondered
at. These cattle have in some parts of the penin-
| lounge is their lot. Even the cows plow and do
| carting work, while the steers, bedecked with roses
and ribbons, draw carts rude as those used in
the days of imperial Rome, full of laughing country
girls and their dark-eyed lovers. -Four OF these
huge creatures plod along the dusty highway, ca
ressed and screamed at alternately by their drivers
Certainly the place is not ruinous yet the little
| necessary to be done is somehow got through, and
under that lovely Italian sky deep drink 1t the
first fountain and bed on natures carpet, with Il
scanty supply of wholesome provender, suttices for
| life. When those animals grow too old for farm
work they are allowed to range the pastures, and
after few months of idlenesS said to be fat and
are slaughtered. The beef is never really good,
still it is eatabe and wholesome.
The milk of the cattle griZed in Lombardy and
Piedmont is rich and tolerably abundant. 1t
makes the finest cheese i'll Europe, and the butter
| bearing the Milan brand commands high price in
all southern markets. The same race of cattle are
also found on the Roman CampaGna, where in
heightened single file they plow the rich corn land
more by the breaking of the earth by their owf
weight than by means of the antique wooden i'm
plement that they drag after them. New lorl