196 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



raiiclnuL'ii want they can j^et plenty of th it characteristic by taking a 

 cross back to the Texan or to that still more hardy and better " wrest- 

 ler," the American buffalo. I take it that what is wanted by our West- 

 ern ranchmen is a cross that will give earlier maturity, fineness of bone, 

 lightness of offal, and a greater tendency to take on flesh. The quality 

 of hardiness is already attained in the foundation stock. 



For the same reason I am rather disposed to question the desirability 

 of the Galloway as a cross for our Western ranchmen. Hardy they un- 

 doubtedly are, and of nu^st admirable form in carcass, but I have a fear 

 that this cross upon the foundation stock in use on our Western plains 

 will be found coarse-boned and slow in reaching maturity. I venture 

 this as an opinion, based entirely upon the i)revailing type of these cat- 

 tle as I have seen them in their native country. When mature I am 

 inclined to think they are superior in shape of carcass, judged from a 

 beef-producing standpoint, to their rivals, the finer-boned, finer haired, 

 and earlier maturing Aberdeen-Angus, but as a cross for the purposes 

 above indicated I certainly look for much more satisfactory results from 

 the latter breed, unless it be upon herds that have already been im- 

 proved by several crosses with the earlier maturing breeds. 



Among the herds visited by me in this country I have been especially 

 pleased with the short-horns of Hugh Aylmer and Amos Cruickshank, 

 and the polled herds of Sir George McPherson Grant and Mr. George 

 AVilken. Mr. Aylmer is an ardent admirer of the Booth sort, and as 

 his breeding is confined to that line his herd may be fairly taken as a 

 representative one of that family. His cattle are distinguished for 

 blocky, beefy form, on short legs, with well-sprung ribs, and straight 

 top and bottom lines. Not remarkable for fineness or smoothness, or 

 style, or finish, but certainly most excellent beef-producing cattle. 



Mr. Cruickshank is not a follower of either Booth or Bates. He has 

 been breeding short-horns at Sittyton for about fifty years; says it has 

 always been his aim to breed good short-horns, regardless of the ca- 

 prices of fashion ; has tried bulls of both Bates and Booth sorts, but 

 thought they did his herd harm rather than good, and so discarded 

 first one and then the other. The bull that, in his opinion, has been 

 most productive of good results in his herd — the greatest short-horn 

 bull, in his judgment, that has existed within the past fifty years — was 

 Champion of England, a bull bred by himself. He used this bull on 

 his herd about ten years. Among the sons of the old bull he regards 

 Roan Gauntlet as the best — but little, if any, inferior as a getter to his 

 illustrious sire. He has now about 120 females in his herd, nearly half 

 of the number being I'ed, the balance red-and-white and roan, with a 

 few all white. His cattle were not in high condition when I saw them; 

 they were runniiig out on pasture, and had not been in stable, nor had 

 they seen any other feed than grass since last spring. 1 was i)articu- 

 larly impressed with the evidences of early maturity in this herd; in- 

 deed I have nowhere else seen such perfectly developed coicfi, among 



