THE Kerry cattle having been lately introduced into this country, the agricultural public may be interested in a few remarks in regard to their history, characteristics, &c.

The attention of the writer of this article was first particularly drawn to these cattle by reading Professor Low’s description of them, accompanied by a beautiful colored engraving of a cow of the breed, in his illustrated work on the “Domestic Animals of Great Britain.” A portion of this description is as follows:

   “The native breeds of Irish cattle may be divided into those of the mountains, moors and bogs, and those of the richer plains, with intermixed breeds resulting from the union of different races, foreign or native. The mountain breeds approach to the character of the ancient White Forest breed in a sufficiently near degree to indicate a common descent with the cattle of the mountains of Scotland and Wales, and the highlands of Devon.
   Of the native breeds of Ireland, one very peculiar and well defined is derived from the mountains of Kerry, the most westerly land in Europe, and remarkable for the humidity of its climate. * * * They are of various colors, as black, brown, and mixed black and white, or black and brown. Their horns are fine, long, and turned upward at the points.  Their skins are soft and unctuous, and of a fine orange tone, which is visible about the eyes, the ears, and muzzle. Their eyes are lively and bright, and although their size is diminutive, their shape is good.
   These cattle are hardy and capable of subsisting on scanty fare. Although stunted in size when brought from the bogs and sterile pastures on which they are reared, they make & wonderful advance in size, even though several years old, when supplied with suitable food.  The fat of their beef is well mixed with the muscular parts, or, in technical language, marbled, and they fatten well in the inside.
   But the peculiar value of the Kerry breed is the adaptation of the females to the purposes of the dairy. In milking properties the Kerry cow, taking size into account, is equal or superior to any in the British islands. It is the large quantity of milk yielded by an animal so small which renders the Kerry cow so genemlly valued by the cottagers and smaller tenants of Ireland. She is frequently termed the poor man’s cow, and she merits this appellation by her capacity of subsisting on such fare as he has the means to supply.”

The descriptions given of the breed by other writers do not differ materially from that of Professor Low. Youatt says the Kerry is “emphatically the poor man’s cow: hardy, living everywhere, yielding for her size abundance of milk of good quality.” Milburn says “she is a treasure to the cottage farmer; so hardy that she will live where other cattle starve. She is a perfect machine for converting the coarsest cattle food into rich and nutritious milk and butter.”

These and other accounts of the Kerry cattle I read many years before the opportunity was presented me of seeing any specimens of the breed. It seemed to me that if the qualities of the cattle had been truthfully stated, the breed would be valuable in this country, to some extent. On visiting Europe in 1858 I made a tour of several hundred miles mainly for the purpose of seeing the Kerry cattle in their native country, and studying their characteristics as there developed.

I may here remark that erroneous ideas prevail, more or less, in regard to true type of the Kerry breed. From the fact that the long-horned breed kept in the lower and more fertile parts of the county of Kerry, some people appear to have taken them for the real Kerries. The long-horns are the native race of the island alluded to by Professor Low as belonging to the “richer plains.” They correspond in general character to the long-horns of England.  They present a striking contrast with the Kerries, or cattle of the mountains, being, comparatively, of large size, with long, drooping horns, which sometimes cross each other beneath the lower jaw. The Kerries, on the other hand, are small, with horns of medium length, rising and generally somewhat spreading.

On arriving at the town of Killarney I made inquiries in regard to the localities where the Kerry cattle were bred in their greatest purity, and ascertained that the mountainous section of the southwest quarter of the island wag the principal territory for them. Obtaining a guide who could speak both the English and Celtic languages, and a sure-footed mountain pony, I commenced observations. I found the cattle somewhat smaller, and occupying a wilder and more forbidding territory than I expected. At elevations of two thousand feet or more above the sea I found them sharing with the goat the natural vegetation of the mountain’s side. The region presents no cultivation except a few patches in the valleys of small streams. Still the cows appeared to yield a good quantity of milk, which produces a very fine quality of butter. I was convinced that I had never seen any other cows which could sustain themselves so well under such circumstances. I was not a little surprised to learn that the cattle, with the exception of the cows in milk, remained on these bleak pastures through the winter season. Yet their inherent hardiness enables them to go through this apparent hardship probably without much suffering. They are clad In a very heavy coat of hair, thick and furry next the skin, rendering their bodies almost impervious to wet from snow or rain. As illustrating their hardiness the following incident may be related: A man led me up a mountain glen to see a lot of three-year-old heifers he had grazing there.  It appeared surprising to me that the cattle could obtain a subsistence even in summer among the rough rocks with which the side of the mountain was nearly covered.  Having noticed that the man had several stacks of hay down in the valley where was the rude habitation which he called his home, I asked him if he was going to take these cattle there for the winter. He replied, “No; the hay is for the lowland cattle and ponies.” He had just been telling of the deep snows which sometimes fall in the mountains, and I asked what the cattle would do in such cases? He said, “Oh! the snow generally softens after a day or two, and the cattle can work through it.”

I had also the opportunity of seeing some specimens of the Kerry breed on lowland farms, but none that had been kept in such situations long enough to show fully the effects which better food and better climate would have on them.  To ascertain this it would be necessary to breed the animals, perhaps for more than one generation, in the localities most favorable to their development. In the park of Lord Kenmure, at Killarney, I saw some very pretty Kerries, and was particularly struck by the contrast presented between a small Kerry bull and a very large short-horn, grazing quietly together and apparently much attached to each other. As to shape, both were good representatives of their respective breeds, but the Kerry was smaller and the short-horn larger than the average.  Both appeared to be about full grown, but the back of the Kerry was only on a line with the stifle joint of the short-horn when they stood side by side.  I also saw cows of various ages at other situations in the same neighborhood, and was assured by their owners or persons having charge of them, that they gave in the best of the season from ten to twelve imperial quarts of milk each per day, and that seven pounds of butter from each cow per week was often obtained.  A statement given by Youatt in regard to the production of cows kept by Mr. Crosby, of Ardfert Abbey, near Tralee, Ireland, is worthy of notice.  For a period of seven years in succession, the dairy comprised from twenty-eight to eighty cows, mostly Kerries, and they gave on an average 1,952 quarts of milk each, per year, which yielded a pound of butter te eight quarts or 244 pounds per cow annually. One pure Kerry in the herd gave 2,725 quarts of milk in ten months.

For various reasons, which it is unnecessary to mention in this connexion, I did not at this time purchase any Kerry cattle; but in 1859 I again visited the same section, when I extended my examinations still further, and purchased for Arthur W. Austin, esq., of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, a three-year-old bull and five two-year-old heifers of the truest type of the Kerry breed.  They arrived here in the month of November after a very long and boisterous voyage, which greatly reduced their strength. The bull was so completely exhausted that he died in a short time after his arrival. Another bull and two heifers were immediately ordered, which arrived here early in July, 1860.

The heifers first imported produced their first calves in May, 1861. All proved remarkably well, except one designated No. 3, which, after having produced a very fine calf, and giving for several days from twelve to fourteen quarts of milk a day, suddenly died. The heifers of the second importation calved in July and August, 1861. In regard to their product for the first year the following extract from a statement submitted by Mr. Austin in connexion with the exhibition of some of his cattle at the show of the Norfolk Agricultural Society, 1861, may be taken. He says:

"I often had the milk measured during the past summer, and found it did not go below sixty quarts a day for five heifers of the first importation. On the 31st of May the five alluded to having, in that month, produced their first calves, gave 60⅓ quarts, or an average of 12 quarts each. On the 14th of June the same five gave 62¼ quarts. Three of them gave a fraction over 14 quarts each. I weighed the morning’s milk, and the 31⅔ quarts, wine measure, weighed 67¼ pounds. Of the two last imported heifers, one is fully equal to either of those of the first importation in proportion to age, she being a year younger, and having given, with her first calf, over 10 quarts per day during the summer.  The milk of all of them is of the first quality as to richness.  Butter is obtained from the cream in a very short time. Late in October it required less than five minutes’ churning, by the clock, to bring the butter. A lady who sends for six quarts once a week, and who has had much experience, pronounces the production of cream marvellous. She says she skims it several times over.  I have had excellent milkers of different breeds, and have always been particular as to quality more than quantity; but I obtain from these Kerry heifers as large a quantity of milk as could reasonably be expected, considering their size and age, and the quality certainly surpasses, on the average, any milk it has been my fortune to see.”

The same animals produced their second calves in May and June, 1862.  In regard to their returns for the gresent year, Mr. Austin states that five of them gave, by actual measurement, from twelve to sixteen quarts of milk (wine measure) per day in July last, two of them coming fully up to the maximum quantity, and two others reaching fourteen quarts each. The stock of this breed now in Mr. Austin’s hands, and which comprise all of the genuine Kerries I have ever known in this country, are a bull and six cows, imported in 1859 and 1860, four males and three females produced in 1861, and four males and two females produced in 1862—making, in the aggregate, twenty head of full- bloods. It may be stated, however, that Mr. Austin has lately disposed of several of the yearlings, though they have not yet been taken away. Several crosses have been made with the imported Kerry bull, (Mountaineer,) but none of the stock have yet arrived at an age to show their qualities for the dairy. They are thrifty, and have good points, the remarkable symmetry of the sire being transmitted to them in a striking degree.

The points of the Kerry cattle may be briefly stated as follows: The head rather short, with face somewhat dished; the forehead broad, the muzzle rather wide, with a spreading nostril; the eye large and lively, but mild in expression; horns rather long, of good proportions as to diameter, and generally turned upward and outward; the neck small at its junction with the head, but pretty full and deep at its junction with the body; the shoulders rather sloping, fine at the points, and joining smoothly with the body in all places; the back straight; the chine and crops full; the loin wide, and the rump long; the chest generally deep and capacious; the flank full and deep, and the muscles of the hind quarter well developed, though the thighs are thin; the udders of the cows are wide and square, rather than deep and pendant; the teats of medium size, and placed widely apart; the legs short, and the shank bones fine; general appearance spirited, and movement quick and easy. As to color, black prevails, and it is preferred in Ireland as indicating the nearest affinity with the original type; but brown, brindled, and red frequently occur. All those which I obtained are black, and all their offspring are of the same color except one, which is brown. One or two have a white spot in the forehead, and several have white about the udder. The skin is thick, mellow, and elastic.

Mr. Austin’s cattle already exhibit some changes, which are worthy of note, the most obvious is increase of size. The keeping they have had is fair pasture in summer and good hay in winter.  Their growth for the first year was very rapid.  When I bought the first five two-year-old heifers, their girth was only four feet five inches to four feet six inches. I measured two of them a few days since, and found their girth five feet seven and five feet six inches, although, from having been pretty well milked down during the season, they are in only middling condition. The stock born and reared here are larger, at a year and a half old, than the imported stock was at two and a half years old.

Another striking change which they exhibit is in attaining the state of puberty. Among their native mountains, the heifers seldom evince any inclination to take the bull till they are three years old, and I was assured that it is the general custom to put them to the bull in the month of September after they are three years old. The five first imported did not come in heat till July, 1860, when they were over three years old, notwithstanding they had plenty of grass and hay after their arrival here, and were in good order.  Nature evidently adapts animals to circumstances. If these cattle were to produce calves in their native country at as early a period as it is common for cows to do where they are placed in favorable circumstances, the breed would inevitably deteriorate; but by their not breeding till they have nearly reached maturity, their strength and hardihood, so indispensable to the condition in which they live, are maintained. But, mark how soon an improvement of condition affects the system!  Two of the heifers reared here took the bull when but a little over one year old. It may, however, be remarked that they are about as large as heifers of the common stock of the country usually are at that age.

Mr. Austin’s mode of rearing the calves has been to allow them milk, which they are taught to drink, when two or three days old, till they are ten to twelve weeks old, gradually diminishing the quantity for the last two weeks of the time. They are then weaned and turned to grass. Last spring the Kerry yearling heifers and several cross-breds were turned into a forest range, where patches of grass and bushes alternated with trees. They remained here several months, the full-blood Kerries sustaining themselves well, and evidently doing better than the others. The stock has a very thrifty habit, and tends to fatten easily. The quotation from Low shows in what estimation their beef is held. It is universally admitted to be of the best quality. Butchers who have looked at Mr. Austin’s Kerries say that they will make more weight of high-priced beef than the common or "native" stock, the tendency being to make very thick back-pieces.

The purchase of these cattle in Ireland to come to America attracted considerable attention. The fact was noticed in several newspapers, and while the cattle were in Liverpool many persons called to see them. Singular as it may seem, but few people in England had ever seen a specimen of the breed.  How much this purchase has had to do in bringing the Kerries into general notice I cannot say; but it is certain that attention has, within a year or two, been more turned to them than ever before. English papers state that Baron Rothschild has sent a large number to his Australian possessions, the first lot of fifty heifers having been shipped a little more than a year ago. They are also attracting much more attention in England, as is shown by the special prizes offered for them by the Royal Agricultural Society, and the favorable comments made on those exhibited at its shows. As to their adaptation to this country, I think there is good reason to believe that in some situations their substitution for the stock now kept would be a decided advantage. Such situations are hilly and mountainous districts, and the rough, poor, bush pastures of this section.

Hon. John Wentworth, of Chicago, Illinois, well known as a large stock breeder, saw Mr. Austin’s cattle last summer, and in writing to the "Prairie Farmer” in regard to them said: "Whilst I will say that they are exactly the breed of cattle for the mountainous pastures of New England, I will also say that if I lived out on the open prairie, had no barn, and could keep but one cow, I would prefer a little black Kerry to all others.”

I will only add, in conclusion, that the success which has thus far attended these cattle in this country, is fully equal to what had been anticipated, and offers every encouragement for their further introduction and trial.