138 



CANADIAN FARM YEAR BOOk. 



cuan they did when the horse was 

 younger. As the age advances, the 

 angle formed by the teeth oif the 

 upper and lower jaw becomes more 

 acute. 



At Nine Years of Age, the cups will 

 have disappeared from the upper cen- 

 tral incisors; from the upper inter- 

 mediates at ten years, and at eleven 

 years the cups will have all disap- 

 peared from the upper jaw. The 

 cups are not likely to disappear at 

 as regular intervals in the upper 

 jaw as they did in the lower jaw. 

 Therefore it is not always possible to 

 tell the age of a horse witnin a year 

 or two after he has passed his eighth 

 year. 



After the horse has passed the 

 twelfth year the matter of two or 

 three years amounts to little. Much 

 depends on the individuality of the 

 animal, as some animals are worth 

 more at eighteen than others at four- 

 teen. One's judgment of the value 

 of a horse at these ages should be 

 formed on general appearances and 

 activities rather than on age. 



The Age of Cattle and Sheep. 



The only reliable method of Judg- 

 ing the age of cattle is by means of 

 the incisor or nipping teeth. Cattle 

 have eight temporary incisors, or 

 sucking teeth, in the lower jaw, but 

 none in the upper. A pad oif tissue 

 replaces the latter. The molar teeth 

 consist of six teeth in each jaw — 

 upper and lower — tnree of which 

 (twelve in all) are temporary, or re- 

 placeable, and for convenience are 

 spoken of as the first, second and 

 third temporary molars, in contra- 

 dlstinctiom to those which follow, and 

 termed the fourth, fifth and sixth 

 permanent molars. 



At a month old, most, or all, of 

 the temporary sucking teeth are In 

 the mouth. At six months the fourth 

 permanent molar will be seen. At 

 twelve months the fifth permanent 

 molar will appear. At two years the 

 sixth permanent molar will be well 

 up, but shows itself in one year and 

 nine months. At or about two( years 



and six months, the first and second 

 temporary molars are shed, and re- 

 placed by permanents; so that by the 

 time an ox is three years of age, the 

 third molar has been replaced and a 

 camplete set of permanent molars 

 are now in the jaws. 



Most attention must be paid to the 

 changes In the incisors, because these 

 are so easy to note. 



It is quite an easy matter to tell 

 the difference between temporary and 

 permanent incisor teeth. The perma- 

 nents are much broader and larger 

 and when Seen side by side with the 

 temporary ones, it is impossible to 

 mistake one for the other. The same 

 remarks are equally applicable to the 

 sheep. 



If a mouth is examined at one year 

 and nine months, a pair — the central 

 pair — of permanent incisors will be 

 seen. These are cut at about one 

 /ear and six months, so that at one 

 year and three-quarters they are well 

 developed. At two years and three 

 months to two years and nine months 

 the permanent middle incisors are 

 well up. Cattle vary in dentition, but 

 as a rule it is two years and nine 

 months to three years before the 

 lateral permanent incisors are well 

 up. At three to three and one-half 

 years, the corner permanent incisors 

 usually appear, and this completes 

 the dentition. To judge the age after 

 this period is sipeculative, and only 

 approximate at best. The incisors 

 gradually wear away, the corner teeth 

 showing the least signs of wear. In 

 horned cattle the rings formed upon 

 the horns are used as a rough means 

 of determining the animal's age. Add 

 cwo years to the total number of 

 rings, as the first ring is not formed 

 mtil after the second year. 



Sheep have twenty temporary 

 leeth, eight being incisors, or nip- 

 ping, teeth, precisely the same as In 

 the ox, and the reader must refer to 

 these for the several designations re- 

 lating thereto. The central pair of 

 permanent incisors are cut when the 

 animal is about one year of age, and 

 the perfect development of these 



