THE UNITED KINGDOM. 213 



marked features than this breed. Their limbs are short, but mus- 

 cular; chests wide and deep; ribs well developed and fairly arched ; 

 backs straight; neck and dewlap somewhat coarse in the bull; horns of 

 great length, spreading and tipped with black ; colors various briudle, 

 dun, cream, red, and black. They give only a small quantity of milk, 

 and are very slow in arriving at maturity, not becoming ripe until the 

 age of five or six years. .Their beef is of a very superior quality and 

 i heir hides make the best of leather. 



SHORTHORNS IN SCOTLAND. 



Shorthorns, as their name denotes, have short horns, and in color they 

 vary from pure white to a deep or rich red. The most popular color for 

 these animals in Scotland is a mixture of the two, forming a deep or 

 light roan, sometimes called strawberry, flecked, or hazel. 



Shorthorns are as symmetrical as the Polled Angus, and grow about 

 the same weight. They are hardy and arrive at maturity early ; but, 

 like the Polled Angus, they are principally noted as beef cattle. For the 

 dairy they are not equal to some other breeds in Scotland. The first 

 improvers of Shorthorns were the brothers Charles and llobert Colling, 

 who commenced improving these cattle nearly a century ago ; also Mr. 

 Bates, Mr. Booth, and others, all in the northern counties of England. 



OFFSPRING OF IMPORTED CATTLE. 



The Deparf mental circular says: 



It is farther believed that the imported breeds, when suitably located and managed, 

 produce in their now homes offspring superior TO that produced by the same breeds 

 in their original homes, and that the superiority is more marked in their succeeding 

 than in the first generations. 



For instance, tho imported breeds of Shorthorns, Jerseys, and Holsteins are superior 

 in the United States to the same breeds in Europe ; and it is thought that tho same 

 result would follow the importation of the Norman, Brittany, Flemish, and Charlevoi 

 breeds, as well as others not enumerated. To what extent is this result realized in 

 other countries ? 



In answer to this it has to be stated that, as Scotland does not im- 

 port cattle to any appreciable extent for breeding purposes, little ex- 

 perience can be quoted on the point in question. A lew Shorthorns 

 have been imported from the United States which were descended from 

 stock originally sent from this country. 



The breeding Shorthorns imported from the United States by Lord 

 Dunrnore and other noblemen were of considerably larger size than 

 animals of the same lineage reared in Britain. The ancestors of Short- 

 horns had been in the United States for several generations and 

 the superiority of their offspring imported to Britain over British-bred 

 stock of the same breed was most marked. This would lead to the in- 

 ference that cattle grow to a larger size in the United States than in 

 Britain, the more especially as the herds of these noblemen who im- 

 ported the cattle from the United States contained many of the largest 

 and best-fed animals of the breed in the country. 



BEST MBiEODS OF EXPORTATION TO THE UNITED STATES. 



Scotland iPwell supplied with railroads, and the cattle can be put 

 into special trucks and conveyed quickly to Glasgow, Liverpool, or 

 London, where there are facilities of the best order for shipment, and 

 most suitable and convenient accommodation for animals on board the 

 large Atlantic liners which sail from these ports. 



