11(3 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



set, and all the teeth are a little flattened at the top; while on the two center ones there 

 begins to be a distinct darker line in the middle, bounded by a line of harder bone.* 



From this time the age can only be guessed at, and not decidedly affirmed; and a great 

 deal will depend upon the manner in which the animal is fed. The beast that is most out, 

 and that is compelled most to use his incisor teeth, will have them worn farthest down. 



Perhaps, as a general rule, but admitting of many an exception, it may be said that at 

 seven years old, this line is becoming broadest and more irregular in all of the teeth; and 

 that a second and broader, and more circular mark, appears within the center of the former 

 one, and more distinct in the central or two central pairs and which at eight years has 

 spread over the six central incisors. 



A year afterwards, however, a change takes place which cannot be mistaken. The 

 process of absorption has again commenced, and precisely where it did when the animal was 

 four months old, viz., in the central incisors; but it is slow in its progress, and it is never 

 carried to the extent to which we observed it in the milk teeth. It is, however, sufficiently 

 plain, and the two central teeth are evidently smaller than their neighbors. A considerable 

 change has also taken place on the surface of the teeth; the two dark marks are rubbed into 

 one in all but the corner teeth. 



At ten, the four central incisors are diminished in size, and the mark is becoming smaller 

 and fainter. 



At eleven, the six central ones are smaller; and at twelve, all of them are very considerably 

 diminished; but not, as we have already observed, to the same extent as in the young beast. 

 The mark is now also faint, or nearly obliterated, except in the corner teeth, and the inside 

 edge is worn down to the gum. 



The beast is now getting old; the teeth continue to diminish, and it is not often that the 

 animal, after fourteen or sixteen years old, is able to maintain his full condition. He must 

 then be taken up and partly fed in the stable : yet there are many instances in which favorite 

 bulls have been kept until they were more than twenty years old; and we know a cow of the 

 same age that pastures with the rest of the dairy, and gives a fair quantity of milk.&quot; 



Beef Production. The production of beef has become one of the leading agricul- 

 tural industries of this country. Although it has long been an industry of great magnitude, 

 it has developed to a remarkable degree since the export trade in meats was established. 

 English authorities state that most of the live stock from the United States is superior in 

 quality and condition to that imported from Holland and other parts of Europe, and that 

 there is a juiciness and flavor about the beef, together with a desirable distribution of fat 

 and lean, that are not wholly attainable except through the American system of full grazing. 

 The British farmer, in fattening his beef, is obliged to resort, in a great measure, to cultivated 

 roots, oil cake, and other prepared food ; but in this country, which is unexcelled for grazing, 

 there is an abundance of the best grasses and grains, and the &quot; forcing &quot; process in fattening 

 by the free use of the latter, need not be resorted to, except a comparatively short t;me pre 

 vious to marketing. The exports in beef and its products alone during the past year were 

 upwards of fifty millions dollars; and when we take into consideration also the vast amount 

 required for home consumption, we shall be able to form something of an estimate of the 

 magnitude of the beef-producing enterprise in this country. The success of beef production 



* &quot; We arc perfectly aware against what authority we are contending, when we thxis compute the 

 age of cattle by the appearance of the teeth. The pleasing author of the Illustrations of Natural 

 History, gives the beast a full mouth at three years old, and so does Button, and the editor of the 

 Encyclopedia Metropolitana. Mr. Parkinson says that the mouth is full at four, although he acknowl 

 edges that the teeth are not perfectly up until the animal is six years old. We have no hesitation, 

 however, .in appealing to the experience of the breeders of cattle for the general accuracy of our 

 account.&quot; 



