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XXV. — On Measuring Cattle. By C. Hillyard, of Thorpe- 

 lands, near Northampton. 



To Philip Pusey, Esq. 

 Dear Sir, — As you think information on that useful practice 

 of measuring cattle to compute the weight of carcase would be 

 acceptable for insertion in the Royal Agricultural Society of 

 England's Journal, I have the pleasure of sending the following 

 relative to the subject. 



About five-and-thirty years ago I met with tables for the mea- 

 surement of cattle, the weights computed in stones of 14 lbs. 

 As stones of 8 lbs., or scores per quarter, were the only weights 

 thought of in Northamptonshire, I reduced the stones of 14 lbs. 

 into those of 8 lbs., explaining how readily such stones corre- 

 sponded with scores per quarter. In 1814 I printed my tables in 

 a small book, which I circulated amongst my friends. The late 

 Dr. Wollaston saw this book, formed his own calculations, and 

 made for Lord Spencer a sliding rule, showing the weights in 

 stones of 14 and 8 lbs. In the third edition of my book ' On 

 Practical Farming and Grazing' I introduced my tables, giving 

 the weights in stones of 8 and 14 lbs., leaving out those calculations 

 made for such large girths and great lengths of cattle that did 

 not exist. 



The measurer should be a sufficient judge of beasts to know 

 whether they are marketably fat or not ; if not, the measure will 

 over-rate them ; — and also something of their proper formation, 

 so as to be capable of forming a just opinion whether they are 

 proportionably heavier or lighter in their fore- quarters than in 

 their hind-quarters ; and thus making such necessary allowance 

 in computing the weight from the sliding-rule, or from the 

 tables in the third edition of my book on Practical Farming and 

 Grazing. The method of measuring is, to put a string or tape 

 round the beast, just behind the shoulder-blade, and take its cir- 

 cumference in feet and inches ; that is called the girth : then with 

 the tape or string measure from the fore part of the shoulder-blade 

 bone, along the side of the back, over the hip to that bone under 

 the tail which plumbs the line with the hind part of the buttock : 

 this is the length. Opposite these figures in the book or scale is 

 the weight of the carcase, in stones of 8 lbs. and of 14 lbs., when 

 separated from the ofi'al. Thus : — girth, 6 ft. 6 in., by 5 ft. 8 in. 

 length, gives 57 stones 2 lbs. of 14 lbs. ; 100 stones of 8 lbs. ; 

 which is equal to 10 score per quarter : 7 ft. 10 in. by 5 ft. 10 in. 

 gives 85 stones 10 lbs. of 14 lbs. ; 150 stones of 8 lbs.; equal to 

 15 score per quarter. The girth is easily taken ; but the length 

 requires great care to take it correctly. The beast should stand 



