that he procured many Danish cattle and horses, which were
subsequently scattered over that entire region, large numbers being
driven to the vicinity of Boston and sold. These Danish cattle are
described as large and coarse, of a yellow color; and it is supposed
that they were procured by Mason as being best capable of enduring the
severity of the climate and the hardships to which they would be
subjected.

However this may have been, they very soon spread among the colonists of
the Massachusetts Bay, and have undoubtedly left their marks on the
stock of the New England and the Middle States, which exist to some
extent even to the present day, mixed in with an infinite multitude of
crosses with the Devons, the Dutch cattle already alluded to, the black
cattle of Spain and Wales, and the long horn and the short horn--most of
which crosses were accidental, or due to local circumstances or
individual convenience. Many of these cattle, the descendants of such
crosses, are of a very high order of merit; but to which particular
cross this is due, it is impossible to say. They generally make hardy,
strong, and docile oxen, easily broken to the yoke and quick to work,
with a fair tendency to fatten when well fed; while the cows, though
often ill-shaped, are sometimes remarkably good milkers, especially as
regards the quantity which they give.

Indeed, it has been remarked by excellent judges of stock, that if they
desired to select a dairy of cows for milk for sale, they would make
their selection from cows commonly called native, in preference to
pure-bred animals of any of the established breeds, and that they
believed they should find such a dairy the most profitable.

In color, the natives, made up as already indicated, are exceedingly
various. The old Denmarks, which to a considerable extent laid the
foundation of the stock of Maine and New Hampshire, were light yellow.
The Dutch of New York and the Middle States, were black and white; the
Spanish and Welsh were generally black; the Devons, which are supposed
to have laid the foundation of the stock of some of the States, were
red. Crosses of the Denmark with the Spanish and Welsh naturally made a
dark brindle; crosses of the Devon often made a lighter or yellowish
brindle while the more recent importations of Jerseys and short horns
have generally produced a beautiful spotted progeny. The deep red has
long been a favorite color in New England; but the prejudice in its