NASCENT. In the act of being produced or evolved. A chemical phrase given to the evolu tion of gases from fluids, at which time they are fornia, Mid the pampas of South America, that they were slaughtered simply for the value of their hides and tallow. The so-called native cattle of America, therefore, are the mixed des cendants of the various breeds brought hither from time to time. The Spanish type being pre served in all the country south of Texas. in. North America, and in South America; and in the Northern United States the characteristics of the better breeds, as the Devon, Hereford, old Durham, Galloway, and Dutch cattle prevailing, according to the locality. In tbe New England States, resolving themselves into the New Eng land reds, from the strong infusion of Devon and Sussex blood, producing cattle admirably adapted to the yoke, and for subsisting in that hilly country. In the West and the border States of the South, the strong infusion of the old Durham. or Teeswater is as clearly seen, which many years ago even made this region famous for the superior quality of the native beef. In the Middle States the breeds were more mixed up, and in their descendants may be traced various breeds we have mentioned. And it was not unusual to tind many polled cattle thirty or forty years ago, and which were especially prized for their milk ing qualities. The history of the introduction of cattle into the New England States shows that the earliest cattle introduced to Plymouth, and the first in New England, were brought in 1624. In 1631 these are mentioned in the old records as having greatly increased. In the meantime a number had been imported for the colonists at Salem. In 1632 and 1633 Captain John Mason, who with Gorges had obtained large tracts of land on the Piscataqua river, made several importations, in his commerce with Denmark, of Danish cattle and horses, which subsequently became largely diffused over the country. These Danish cattle are described in the old records as large, coarse, and of a yellowish color, and it is supposed that they were obtained by Mason as being well able to endure the hardships to which they would be subjected. They were soon spread among the colonists of Massachusetts bay, a,nd have, undoubtedly, left their marks on the stock of New England, and are discernible even to the present day, mixed with a great variety of crosses with the Devons, the black cattle of Wales, the Danes, and Holland, and the various other English breeds then unimproved. These New
England cattle make excellent working oxen, being hardy, docile, easily broken to the yoke, and having a tendency to fatten When well fed, while the cows are often superior milkers. Sixty years ago one of the most intelligent, earnest, and liberal importers and breeders of stock in this country, wrote of the native cattle of New England as follows: I am not satisfied that the delicate Devons are any better suited to the yoke than the vigorous and spirited bullocks which are found in Massachusetts and Maine. It has been asserted, and by authority which I am always disposed to respect, that the cattle of Massachu setts are derived from the Devons; hut Lanca shire, Leicester, and Hereford blood can be traced by a practiced eye in many of the best working oxen exhibited at the New England agricultural shows. If color determines the question, it is but fair to state that from 100 yokes of the finest draft cattle of Massachusetts, which were exhibited in 1822 at the Worcester county show, the best were taken to Brighton, where a pair of very light yellow oxen received a premium for docility and speed at the plow. On a former occasion a yoke of black and white bullocks received the award. The most hardy, active cattle had the shape of kyloes, and were brown. In activity, patience, and strength the cattle of Great Britain have never surpassed the cattle of New England. At the present day the native cattle of the North and West (except in the more primitive districts), are made up of crosses of all the better breeds that from time to time have been imported from England. ' fact, in wide districts, scarcely any inferior cattle can be found, the most of them being good grades, hence mixed breeds would be a better name. The Texans (see cut) are really the only native cattle of the United States, and these only as having bred in a wild, or semi-wild state since their escape from the Spanish adventurers.