Dairy stock : its selection, diseases, and produce, with a description of the Brittany breed / by John Gamgee.

  • Gamgee, John, 1831-1894.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dairy stock : its selection, diseases, and produce, with a description of the Brittany breed / by John Gamgee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    weapons of offence, bnt nsuaUy these animals are quite docile, and are not given to attack. The contrast hetween the horns of the ox and those of the bnH are very remarkable. The shape and polish of the horns is so much esteemed in Brittany that they are frequently cleaned, and even artificiaUy twisted into proper form. The bulls are usually castrated when very young, so that the head remains small, and with a sharp out- line ; the neck short, deep, but not thick; the chest is broad, the ribs round and long, the withers, back, loins, and croup, are nearly in the same line and wide. The tan is often attached too high, though it is always long and fine. The Breton ox has but a small dewlap, and a thin and supple sldn. The shape of the abdomen varies according to the keep allowed the animal. Usually the limbs are straight and well formed. The walk of these oxen is as rapid as that of the horse, and they can trot fast and for some time together. All that has been said, therefore, tends to prove that amongst the Brittany cattle may be found perfect animals in miniature. This cannot be said precisely of the ox, and evidently some specimens of the race amelioree attain considerable size, even when not castrated. Of the bidls and cows imported into Eng- land, we have seen some abortive specimens of the smaller kind, with coarse skins, thick horns, crooked