44S 



FARMERS' REGISTER— POINTS TO JUDGE LIVE-STOCK. 



Jieadcd dull a)ipearance to an ox. The forearm i 

 and hock should alt^o be clean and full of muscle, 

 to endui'e travelling. Large joints indicate bad 

 feeders. The neck of an ox sliould be, contrary 

 to that of the sheep, sn^all from the back of the 

 head to the middle of tlie neck. The reason of 

 the difference, in this respect, betwixt the ox and 

 the sheej), is, tliat the state of the neck of the ox 

 has no effect on the strength of the spine. 



A full, clear, and prominent eye is another point 

 to be considered; because it is a nice indication of 



food breeding. It is always attendant on fine 

 one. Tiae expression of the eye is an excellent 

 index of many properties in the ox. A dull lieavy 

 eye certainly indicates a slow feeder. A rolling 

 eye, showing much white, is expressive of a rest- 

 less capricious disposition, which is incompatible 

 with quiet leeding. A calm, complacent expres- 

 sion of eye and face is strongly indicative of a 

 sweet and patient disposition, and, of course, 

 kindly feeding. The eye is frequently a faithful 

 index of the state of the health. A cheerful clear 

 eye accompanies good health; a constantly dull 

 one proves the probable existence of some internal 

 lingering disease. The dulness of eye, arising 

 fi'om the efliect of internal disease, is, however, 

 quite different in character from a natural or con- 

 stitutional phlegmatic dulness. 



The state of the skin is the next point to be as- 

 certained. The skin affords what is technically 

 i;ind emphatically called the touch, — a criterion se- 

 cond to none in judging of the feeding properties of 

 an ox. The touch may be good or bad, fine or 

 harsh, or, as it is often termed, hard or mellow. A 

 thick firm skin, which is generally covered with a 

 thick set, hard, short hair, always touches hard, 

 and indicates a bad feeder. A thin, meagre, pa- 

 pery skin, covered with thin silky hair, being the 

 opposite of the one just described, does not, how- 

 ever, afford a good touch. Such a skin is hidica- 

 tive of weakness of constitution, though of good 

 feeding properties. A perlect touch will be found 

 with a thick, loose skin, floating, as it were, on a 

 layer of soft fat, yielding to the least pressure, and 

 springing back towards the fingers like a piece of 

 soft, thick, chamois leather, and covered with 

 thick, glossy, sotl: hair, Such a collection of hair 

 looks rich and beautiful, and seems ^varm and 

 comfortable to the animal. It is not unlike abed 

 oi' fine soft moss, and hence such a skin is frequent- 

 ly styled "mossy." The sensation derived from 

 feeling a fine touch is pleasureable, and even de- 

 lightfui, to an amateur of breeding. You cannot 

 help liking the animal that possesses a fine touch. 

 Along with it is generally associated a fine sym- 

 metrical form. A knowledge of touch can only be 

 acquired by long practice; but, after having ac- 

 quired it, it is of itself a sufficient means of judg- 

 ing of the feeding qualjty of the ox; because, when 

 present, the ];)roperties of symmetrical form, fine 

 Done, sweet disposition, and purity of blood, are 

 the general accompaniments. 



These are the essential points of judging lean 

 .cattle; Ijut there are other and important considera- 

 tions which mast claim the attention of the judge, 

 in Harming a thorough judgement of the ox. 



The proportion wliich the extremities bear to 

 the body, and to one another, is one of these con- 

 siderations. The head of the ox should be small, 

 and set on the neck as if if appeared to be easily 

 parrieil by the animal. Tills consideration is of 



great importance in showing cattle to advantage 

 in tlie market. The face should be long Irom the 

 eyes to the point ol' the nose. No face can be 

 handsome without this feature. The skull should 

 be broad across the eyes, and only contract a little 

 above them, but should taper considerably below 

 them to the nose. The muzzle should be fine and 

 small, and the nostrils capacious. The crown of 

 the head should be flat and strong, and the horns 

 should jM'otrude horizontally irom both sides of it, 

 though the direction of the growth from the mid- 

 dle to the tip varies in the difl'erent breeds. The 

 ears should be large, stand a little erect, and so 

 thin as to reflect the bright sun-light through them. 

 The neck should be light, tapering from the front 

 of the shoulder and neck-vein, with a gradual rise 

 from the top of the shoulder to the head. The 

 length of the neck should be in proportion to the 

 other jiarts of the animal; but tjiis is a non-essen- 

 tial point, though I would prefer an apparently 

 short neck to a long one, because it is generally 

 well covered with the neck-vein. A droop of the 

 neck, from the top of the shoulder to the head, m- 

 dicates a weakness of constitution, arising frequent- 

 ly from breeding too near akin. The Tegs below 

 the knee should be rather short than long, and 

 clean made. They should be placed where they 

 apparently bear the weight of the body most easi- 

 ly, and they should stand wide asunder. The tail 

 should be rather thick than otherwise, as thickness 

 indicates a strong spine and a good Aveigher. It 

 should be provided with a large tuft of long hair. 



The position of the flesh on the carcass is ano- 

 ther great consideration in judging of the ox, the 

 flesh on the different parts of the ox being of va- 

 rious qualities. That part called the spare-rib in 

 Edinburgh, and the fore and middle ribs in Lon- 

 don, the loins, and the rump or hookbone, are of 

 the finest quality, and are generally used for 

 roasts and steaks. Consequently the ox which 

 carries the largest quantity of beef on these points 

 is the most valuable^ Flesh of fine quality is ac- 

 tually of a finer tewire in the fibre than coarse 

 flesh. It also contains fat in the tissue between 

 the fibres. This arrangement of the fat and lean 

 gives a richness and delicacy to the flesh. The 

 other parts, though not all of the same quality, are 

 used for salting and making soups, and do not fetch 

 so high a ]irice as the parts just described. 



A tiill twist lining the division between the 

 hams, called the "closing," with a thick layer of 

 fat, a thick flank, and a lull neck-vein, are gener- 

 ally indicative of tallow in the interior of the car- 

 cass; but it fi'equently happens, that afl these 

 symptoms of laying on the internal fat fail. The 

 disposition to lay on internal fat altogether depends 

 on the nature of the individual constitution; for, it 

 is often observed, that those individuals which ex- 

 Ijibit great fattening points on the exterior, do not 

 fill with internal fat so well as others Avhich want 

 these pointsu On the contrary, thin made oxen, 

 with flat ribs, and large bellies, very frequently 

 produce large quantities of internal fat. 



The first part which shows the fi\t in a feeding 

 ox, is the point or top of the rump, which, in high- 

 bred onjmals, is a prominent point; sometimes it 

 protrudes too much, as the mass oi' fat laid on 

 these is out of proportion to the lean, and there- 

 ibre useless to the consumer. This is the part 

 which lre(|uently misleads young or inexperienced 

 judges in the true fatness of the ox, because fat 



