CALKE ABBEY LONGHORNS AND PORTLAND SHEEP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1812, 13 August 1886, Page 8

CALKE ABBEY LONGHORNS AND PORTLAND SHEEP.

Among the ancestral homes of our principal landed gentry Calke Abbey, the abode of the late lamented Sir J. Harpur Crewe, is possessed of features of great interest, and the deceased baronet not only filled the spacious mansion with art treasures, including a collection of rare bird specimens calculated to feast the eyes of any naturalist, but took great; delight in the arts of agriculture and stock-breeding. In the magnificent undulating park not only were to be seen old and beautiful trees and immense flocks of red and fallow deer, but Portland sheep and Longhorn cattle, both of which breeds he brought to a great height of perfection.

Even in stock-breeding the deceased baronet strove to pursue nobler aims than those by which our nobility and country gentry are commonly actuated. Instead of filling his byres with fashionable shorthorns and attracting the public favour which such a course would have ensured, he chose to render powerful aid in preventing the old native pure-bred race of the Midlands from falling wholly into neglect. No doubt, like his predecessor Sir George Crewe, he had genuine admiration for Bakewell's favourite breed — one far too beautiful in form and general characteristics, as well as useful in dairy purposes, to be allowed to become extinct. Not a few have been of this opinion for many years past, but it is not every country gentleman has the courage and patriotism to follow the path he thinks right instead of the one leading to popularity. As to his patronage of the Porttenders the late Sir J. H. Crewe may be said to have stood alone, and to him must be accorded the high honour of having preserved Portland sheep from the fate which overtook the old Berkshire, Norfolk, Mendip, and many a once famous breed. Portland sheep are to be found to-day nowhere in perfection but at Calke Abbey. In their native island they have been so neglected as to have become not only few in number but indifferent in character. On the contrary ,thelarge'flocks,numbering altogether nearly 400, which have so striking an appearance in the park of Calke Abbey, and which have realised for many years at the sales at Ashby from Is to Is 3d per lb, display such meritorious characteristics no lesa than a pleading appearance that it

Siay naturally be'expected they may^attract the admiration and regard of some of ttur hoMJity and country gentry, who will have a htflile opportunity at the auction to possess, themselves of a few of the ewes i dr pr6pagd,ti6n. Nd jteelVier animal caa be ft. denizen of a park. They have shorts tfefok, rotund Indies oft short legs, like the best bred ? Exm(j6r>, buc are far less wild. In this respet 'tltey have most likely altered their original character by having been domesticated for «o many generations in this good district. At any rate, it has enabled them to attain larger size and greater weights of carcase than they were originally reputed to posse fes in the Isle of Portland. The sheep were brought direct from the Island of Portland fey Sir Sarry Harpur in the year WO, who Was An ancestor of Sir John Harpur Crew©. The deceased baronet also brought his mag. nulcenfcherdof longhorns to very great perfection and a description of it may be useful to those who think that the World should not be parcelled Out entirely of one pattern, and that Bakewell's favourite breed may even now, in many respects, hold its own against the widely popular shorthorns. The latter may, perhaps, come to earlier maturity a little sooner, but, if so, that is its only superiority, as for hardihood, constitutional vigor, and longevity few British breeds can equai the longuorn. As a dairy animal> the superiority of the latter cannot be gainsaid. Shorthorns, like Dutch cows, may be fbund to'give larger yields of milk in* respect *to quantity, but when the solids and fat come to be tested it is usually found that the stlperbundance consists largely of water. The following two experiments show the richness of longhorn milk over shorthorn milk. The shorthorns were the property of Mr S. C. Pilgrim, of Hinckley, and were Bates best blood for milking purposes ; the longhorns were Mr R. H. Chapman's, of Nuneaton. This was proved by two experiments tried some years since. In the first six shorthorn cows gave 1521b of milk and six longhorns 1351b, but from the larger yield of the shorthorns only 14|lb of curd was obtained, but 19Jlb from that of the longhorns. In the second experiment, 36 shorthorns yielded 6051b of milk, from which was produced 66glb of cupd, while 32 longhorns have 5531b of milk and 691b of curd. Moreover, it appears that some of the best Longhorn milkers have often yielded 19 quarts of milk per day,"and that when their milk has been appropriated to cheese-making, 4J cwt of cheese per cow per year has been the result. Nor as a beef -producer is the longhorn to be at all despised. This has been sufficiently proved by the extraordinary ripeness and weight of an animal from this herd exhibited in the Bingley Hall Cattle Show of 1876. Sir J. H. Crewe's steer at three years and nine months old was only equalled in weight by two others of a similar age, and he only fell slightly lighter to the champion beast, although this one was considerably older. The custom of feeding from calfdom appears never to have been followed with longhorn cattle; otherwise there is no reason to suppose they would fall behind shorthorns and Heref ords iv the product of heavy carcases of two-year-old beef. I mean, of course, such longhorns as are to be found at Calke Abbey, and of which the large herd almost entirely consists. Uniformity in high quality is its distinguished feature, so that the remark applied in respect to the flock of Portland sheep may be asserted with equally strong emphasis in treating of the herd. It would be difficult to tfind in England so many animals of the breed brought to so high a state of perfection, with noble, picturesque heads; a large proportion with tapering wheel-horns, encircling the neck itself. The colour is a handsome dark brindle, or red, with a sheet of white all down the back, and white spots on the thighs. They are also v well ribbed and mostly deep and compact in form, with a quality of skin and flesh a grazier would certainly not despise. The high standard of excellence for which the herd is so remarkable is only what might be expected, considering that it was formed in the first place by the best strains possible to be obtained ; that it has been maintained with such persistent care, skill, and good management that it has continually been able to obtain prizes from the show-yard. — Joseph Dabby, in Bell's Weekly Messenger.