PRACTICAI HERD MANAGEMENT 1005 



Scale, Flesh and Fat. Discussing the important 

 subject of size and real flesh as ^against mere outside 

 fat, the veteran English breeder, Mr. John Hill of 

 Felhampton Court, in a letter written to the author 

 some years ago commented upon type and the points 

 to be observed in his judgment in selecting breeding 

 animals in language which we deem worthy of 

 preservation here: 



1 ' About the time of what may be called the l Here- 

 ford boom' in the early '80 's there were several pop- 

 ular sires which were especially adapted to get early- 

 maturing cattle, and their progeny were unusually 

 successful in the showring. Many breeders 'went 

 mad' over these special strains and further set the 

 seal on a type which had an extraordinary aptitude 

 to fatten, put on flesh evenly, and mature early. Of 

 course this is exactly what is wanted, but the great- 

 est possible care is at the same time required to pre- 

 serve scale and lean meat, and this was too often 

 lost sight of both by breeders and by the judges in 

 the showring. 



"With reference to breeding for scale, it may be 

 worth noticing that in old days when the breed was 

 remarkable for this characteristic, the females were 

 not usually of such dimensions as might have been 

 expected that the dams of the large oxen would 

 have been. But there was a peculiar look about 

 them which can hardly be described, which expe- 

 rienced cattlemen can at once recognize. The words, 

 'she looks like a good breeder,' convey a particular 

 meaning. Such cows are essentially feminine in 

 their appearance, of moderate size, with well sprung 

 ribs, roomy bodies, lengthy hind-quarters, often light 

 in their fore-quarters, of clean-cut sweet-looking 

 heads, with mild intelligent eyes. Usually she car- 



