Certes it is
not strange in England to see oxen whose horns have the length of a
yard or three feet between the tips, and they themselves thereto so
tall as the height of a man of mean and indifferent stature is scarce
equal unto them. Nevertheless it is much to be lamented that our
general breed of cattle is not better looked unto; for the greatest
occupiers wean least store, because they can buy them (as they say)
far better cheap than to raise and bring them up. In my time a cow
hath risen from four nobles to four marks by this means, which
notwithstanding were no great price if they did yearly bring forth
more than one calf a piece, as I hear they do in other countries.
Our horses, moreover, are high, and, although not commonly of such
huge greatness as in other places of the main, yet, if you respect the
easiness of their pace, it is hard to say where their like are to be
had. Our land doth yield no asses, and therefore we want the
generation also of mules and somers, and therefore the most part of
our carriages is made by these, which, remaining stoned, are either
reserved for the cart or appointed to bear such burdens as are
convenient for them.
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