BLENDING AND SORTING 125 



are hornless, similar in weight to Shorthorns 

 and Herefords, and black, with occasional white 

 markings upon the back underline. In the 

 stock-breeder's sense of the term the Aberdeen- 

 Angus breed is pure ; but the irregular occurrence 

 of white on the underline suggests that from a 

 more stringent point of view the purity is not 

 absolute. For that matter, it is inconceivable 

 that any set of animals of more than one cell 

 — or even of one cell, perhaps — can ever be 

 absolutely pure. 



But other irregularities sometimes occur, 

 although with less and less frequency as time 

 goes on. A red calf, a calf with a white spot 

 on its face, another with one or more white 

 flecks on the body, another with "scurs," that 

 is, small epidermal growths attached to the 

 skin and not to the skull, are not entirely 

 unknown. Twenty or thirty years ago such 

 phenomena were more common than now. At 

 that time a calf with a brown stripe down the 

 back and a tan muzzle, another with brindle 

 markings, and another with short horns was not 

 a ferlie — was not a marvel. Sixty or seventy 

 years ago these phenomena were all common, 

 and horned and hornless cattle, many of the 

 former the ancestors of the present-day hornless 

 cattle, competed together for prizes even at the 

 shows of the Highland and Agricultural Society 

 of Scotland. A century ago the horned and 



