THE FARMER AT HOME. 377 



blended into a beautiful roan. Their form is well spread, symmet- 



1 cal, and imposing, and capable of sustaining a large weight of valu- 

 j ole carcass. The horn was originally branching and turned upward, 

 t at now frequently has a downward tendency, with the tips pointing 

 t >wards each other. They are 'light, and comparatively short ; clear, 

 1 igh polished, and waxy. The head is finely formed, with a longer 

 f ice, but not as fine a muzzle, as the Devon. Mr. Stephens remarks, 

 t lat a dark red color usually indicates hardiness of constitution, rich- 

 i ess of milk, and disposition to fatten ; and that high red indicates a 

 Urge quantity of thin milk, and little disposition to fatten. 



The weights reached by the short horns in England, says Mr. 

 Allen, author of Domestic Animals, have been enormous. Two oxen, 

 six years old, weighed nett, 1,820 pounds each. A heifer of three 

 years old, and fed on grass and hay alone, weighed 1,260 pounds. 

 A four-year-old steer, fed on hay and turnips only, dressed 1,890 

 pounds. A cow reached the prodigious weight of 1,778 pounds. A 

 heifer running with her dam, and on pasture alone, weighed,. at seven 

 months, 476 pounds. An ox, seven years old, weighed 236 pounds. 

 From the comparatively small numbers in this country, most of these 

 cattle are kept as breeders ; few, as yet, have been fattened, and such 

 only as were decidedly inferior. Such animals as have been exten- 

 sively produced by crossing this breed upon our former stocks, have 

 given evidence of great and decided improvement ; and the short 

 horns and their grade descendants are destined, at no distant day, to 

 occupy a large portion of the richest feeding-grounds in the United 

 States. 



In England, where so much effort has been made to improve these 

 cattle, there has been a disposition to pay high prices, bordering on 

 wildness or insanity. In 1810, Mr. Charles Ceilings sold his bull 

 Favorite for one thousand guineas ; another one for three hundred 

 and sixty-five guineas ; his cow Cupid for four hundred guineas ; and 

 his cow Cornet for four hundred and ten guineas. And the produce 

 of his whole stock, of forty-seven head, including calves and heifers, 

 amounted to .7,115 17s. He also raised an ox for which one time, 

 two thousand pounds were offered and refused. The live weight of 

 this ox at one time was 3,780 pounds. In our own country, such 

 prices have not been known. However, prior to the year 1840, there 

 was, with a few of our enterprising citizens, a manifestation of a spec- 

 ulative temperament, that led, in some instances, to prices varying 

 from five hundred to a thousand dollars for favorite animals. The 

 following years of commercial embarrassment reduced their market 

 price below their intrinsic value. The current of feeling is again 

 turning in their favor ; and the presumption now is that the rearing 

 of the best breeds of cattle will become an object of permanent inter- 

 est. There will be again no occasion for prices so high as to bring 

 the business into disgrace. It will be a legitimate and patriotic de- 



