591. LONG-HORNS.—This is the prevailing breed in our midland counties and in Ireland; but they are greatly inferior to the short-horns, and are fast being supplanted by them. Even where they have been cultivated with the nicest care and brought to the greatest perfection, they are inferior to the others, and must ultimately be driven from the farm.
[Illustration: ALDERNEY COW.]
[Illustration: ALDERNEY BULL.]
592. THE ALDERNEY.—Among the dairy breeds of England, the Alderney takes a prominent place, not on account of the quantity of milk which it yields, but on account of the excellent quality of the cream and butter which are produced from it. Its docility is marvellous, and in appearance it greatly resembles the Ayrshire breed of Scotland, the excellence of which is supposed to be, in some degree, derived from a mixture of the Alderney blood with that breed. The distinction between them, however, lies both in the quantity and quality of the milk which they severally produce; that of the Alderney being rich in quality, and that of the Ayrshire abundant in quantity. The merit of the former, however, ends with its milk, for as a grazer it is worthless.
[Illustration: GALLOWAY BULL.]
[Illustration: GALLOWAY COW.]
593. SCOTTISH BREEDS.—Of these the Kyloe, which belongs to the Highlands of Scotland; the Galloway, which has been called the Kyloe without horns; and the Ayrshire, are the breeds most celebrated. The first has kept his place, and on account of the compactness of his form, and the excellent quality of his flesh, he is a great favourite with butchers who have a select family trade. It is alike unsuitable for the dairy and the arable farm; but in its native Highlands it attains to great perfection, thriving upon the scanty and coarse herbage which it gathers on the sides of the mountains. The Galloway has a larger frame, and when fattened makes excellent beef. But it has given place to the short-horns in its native district, where turnip-husbandry is pursued with advantage. The Ayrshire is peculiarly adapted for the dairy, and for the abundance of its milk cannot be surpassed in its native district. In this it stands unrivalled, and there is no other breed capable of converting the produce of a poor soil into such fine butter and cheese. It is difficult to fatten, however, and its beef is of a coarse quality. We have chosen these as among the principal representative breeds of the ox species; but there are other breeds which, at all events, have a local if not a general celebrity.
[Illustration: SIDE OF BEEF, SHOWING THE SEVERAL JOINTS.]
594. The general Mode of Slaughtering Oxen in this country is by striking them a smart blow with a hammer or poleaxe on the head, a little above the eyes. By this means, when the blow is skilfully given, the beast is brought down at one blow, and, to prevent recovery, a cane is generally inserted, by which the spinal cord is perforated, which instantly deprives the ox of all sensation of pain. In Spain, and some other countries on the continent, it is also usual to deprive oxen of life by the operation of pithing or dividing the spinal cord in the neck, close to the back part of the head. This is, in effect, the same mode as is practised in the celebrated Spanish bull-fights by the matador, and it is instantaneous in depriving the animal of sensation, if the operator be skilful. We hope and believe that those men whose disagreeable duty it is to slaughter the "beasts of the field" to provide meat for mankind, inflict as little punishment and cause as little suffering as possible.
595. THE MANNER IN WHICH A SIDE OF BEEF is cut up in London, is shown in the engraving on this page. In the metropolis, on account of the large number of its population possessing the means to indulge in the "best of everything," the demand for the most delicate joints of meat is great, the price, at the same time, being much higher for these than for the other parts. The consequence is, that in London the carcass is there divided so as to obtain the greatest quantity of meat on the most esteemed joints. In many places, however, where, from a greater equality in the social condition and habits of the inhabitants, the demand and prices for the different parts of the carcasses are more equalized, there is not the same reason for the butcher to cut the best joints so large.