A Short History of English AgricultureCurtler, W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts)
History
A Short History of English Agriculture
Curtler, W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts)
Agriculture -- England -- History
The red cattle were the largest in England, their milk rich and
nourishing, so much so that it was given specially to consumptives.
They were first bred in Somerset, where in Bradley's time particular
attention was paid to their breeding, and were evidently the ancestors
of the modern Devons. About London these cows were often fed on
turnips, given them tops and all, which made their milk bitter. They
were also found in Lincolnshire and some other counties, where 'they
were fed on the marshes', and Defoe saw, in the Weald of Kent, 'large
Kentish bullocks, generally all red with their horns crooked inward.'
Bradley gives the following balance sheet for a dairy of nine cows:[389]
DR. L s. d.
6 months' grass keep at 1s. 6d. per week per head 17 11 0
6 months' winter keep (straw, hay, turnips, and
grains) at 2s. per week per head 23 8 0
---------
L40 19 0
=========
CR.
13,140 gallons of milk 136 17 6
40 19 0
---------
Balance (profit) L95 18 6
=========
A correspondent, however, pointed out to Bradley that this yield and
profit was far above the average, which was about L5 a cow, on whom
Bradley retorted that it could be made, though it was exceptional.
In the eighteenth century the great trade of driving Scottish cattle
to London began, Walter Scott's grandfather being the pioneer. The
route followed diverged from the Great North Road in Yorkshire in
order to avoid turnpikes, and the cattle, grazing leisurely on the
strips of grass by the roadside, generally arrived at Smithfield in
good condition.[390]
Defoe tells us that most of the Scottish cattle which came yearly
into England were brought to the village of S. Faiths, north of
Norwich, 'where the Norfolk graziers go and buy them. These Scots
runts, coming out of the cold and barren highlands, feed so eagerly on
the rich pasture in these marshes that they grow very fat. There are
above 40,000 of these Scots cattle fed in this county every year. The
gentlemen of Galloway go to England with their droves of cattle and
take the money themselves.'[391] It was no uncommon thing for a
Galloway nobleman to send 4,000 black cattle and 4,000 sheep to
England in a year, and altogether from 50,000 to 60,000 cattle were
said to come to England from Galloway yearly. Gentlemen on the Border
before the Union got a very pretty living by tolls from these cattle;
and the Earl of Carlisle made a good income in this way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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