FAKMERS REGISTER— POINTS TO JUDGE LIVE-STOCK. 



449 



may be. felt on this part, wlien it is very deficient 

 on most of the other points. 



The parts, on the other hand, whicli arc gener- 

 ally the last in beins covered with Hesh, are the 

 point of the shoulder-joint, and the top of the 

 shoulder. If these parts are, therefore, felt to be 

 well covered, the other and better parts of the an- 

 imal may be considered ripe. Ripeness of condi- 

 tion, howe\'er, can only be rightly ascertained by 

 handling, lor there is a great difference between 

 the apparent and real fatness of an ox. The flesh of 

 an apparently lat ox to the eye, may, on being 

 liandled by a judge, feel loose and flabby ; but a truly 

 lat ox always tijels " hard fat." With such the 

 butcher is seldom deceived, while loose handlers 

 give no assurance of killing well. 



It is proper, in judging of the weight of a fat 

 ox, to view his gait wliife walking towards you. 

 which will, if the ox has been well fed, be accom- 

 panied with a heavy rolling tread on the ground. 

 In this way a judge can at once come very near to 

 its weight. 



The ap|)lication of all these rules and consider- 

 ations to the judging of han stock, constitutes the 

 chief difficulty to the judge. An ox, in high con- 

 dition in so lar as its condition alone is under con- 

 sideration, can be judged of, as we have seen, by any 

 one; and sometimes the fatness may be so great 

 as obviously to deform the symmetry to any ob- 

 server. Thesuperiority of ajudge toothers, in these 

 cases, consists in estmiating the weight, observing 

 the purity of the blood, and valuing the points of the 

 animal. liutinjudgingof aleanox, its future condi- 

 tion and symmetry must be foreseen. The rules 

 which I have attempted to describe, will, if studied 

 practically, enable an inquiring observer to foresee 

 these points; and in judging between a numbei" of 

 valuable points, it should be remembered, that pu- 

 rity of breeding will always insure aptitude to fat- 

 ten, which, in its turn, will insure the largest re- 

 muneration for the food consumed. 



Sheep, both fat and lean, may be judged of by 

 nearly the same rules. The purity of breeding 

 will be seen in the large full prominent eys, the 

 clean thin bone of the head and legs, and the 

 large thin pricked up ears, set on each side of the 

 tofTof the head, and in the short, thick, smooth, 

 clear hair of the fiice and legs. The section of the 

 form of the fat sheep is even more mathematically 

 like a parallelogram than that of the fat ox. The 

 touch of the skm is also the same in kind, and is 

 as sure an indication of the disposition to fatten 

 as in the ox. In regard that wool varies so greatly 

 in the many breeds of sheep,,I can only make this 



feneral remark on the fleece best suited to every 

 reed, namely, the whole body should be well co- 

 vered with wool, with the exception of the face 

 and legs, which are always covered with hair. 

 A large covering of wool, not only protects them 

 against the inclemencies of the weather, and the 

 coldness and dampness of the ground, but it sup- 

 plies a large fleece to be disposed of to the wool 

 buyer. One deviation from the rules of judging 

 cattle, must be made while judging sheep, to which 

 I have already alluded, namely, while the neck of 

 the ox should be thin, that of the sheep should be 

 thick; because a thin necked sheep is found to possess 

 a weak spine, and is generally a bad feeder. A 

 thin neck has thus the same eflt'cts on sheep that 

 a sniall tail has on cattle. As in cattle, a droop- 



ing neck in sheep indicates a weakness of consti- 

 tution, arising from breeding in and in. 



Some of tile rules for cattle and sheep are ap- 

 plicable to swine. Swine should have broad straight 

 hacks, round ribs, thin hair, thin skin, small tails, 

 short and fine muscles, pricked ears, small and 

 fine bones, and round and well turned shoulders 

 and hams. 



In conclusion, it is obvious that these rules for 

 judging live-stock are not founded upon arbitrary 

 assumptions. Had no na/wraZ means of judging 

 existed, man could no doubt have contrived rules 

 to suit his own convenience; and in such a case, 

 he would probably have chosen such as he could 

 have most easily applied; but unless they could 

 be applied to the groioing, as well as the 

 mature condition of animals, they would be of 

 little value. But we have seen that natural 

 means of judging do exist, and although they 

 cannot be easily undersood without much observa- 

 tion and practice, yet, by practice, they can be ac- 

 quired, and easily applied to the existing circum- 

 stances of the animal, whatever these may be. 

 Any person, it is true, cannot at once perceive 

 that their necessary tendency is to lead to a correct 

 judgement. Long and careful personal observation 

 is recjuisite to convince the mind of their value in 

 that respect. Tuition, without practical observa- 

 tion, cannot of itself do it. It has been the study 

 of nature, in short, which has enabled man to es- 

 tablish these rules for his guidance; and as all the 

 operations of nature are regulated by general laws, 

 these rules must be of universal application. It is 

 clearly established by observation, as an uniform 

 principle of judgement, that when an ox, in a 

 growing state, presents a certain degree of purity 

 of breeding, a certain form of body, and a certain 

 kind of handling of its skin, a certain result is un- 

 deviatingly exhibited in the mature state from 

 these given premonitory symptoms. Should this 

 result conduce to the acquisition of wealth, we are 

 anxious to possess the growing animal which ex- 

 hibits such favorable points; and, on the other 

 hand, we are as anxious to avoid the possession of 

 that animal which exhibits unfavorable points, 

 unless at a very depreciated value. Now, it has 

 been ascertained by experience, that pure breed- 

 ing, perfect form, and fine touch, make the best 

 mature animal. Hence these points will insure 

 both the growing and the mature animal a ready 

 market and a good price; and hence also, that 

 breed which constantly presents these pomts, de- 

 serves, by its intrinsic worth, to be generally cidfi- 

 vated. 



From the New England Farmer. 

 CUT AND UNCUT POTATOES FOR PLANTING. 



Mr. Fessendcn — The following details of an 

 experiment to ascertain the relative advantage of 

 planting cut or uncut potatoes is at your service for 

 publication if you think it of sufficient import- 

 ance. 



I planted this year alternate rows of cut and un- 

 cut potatoes. I ])ut four pieces into each hill of 

 the cut potatoes and two |)otatoes into each hill of 

 the whole potatoes. The hills were three feet 

 apart, each way, and of course the number of hills 

 in an acre was 4840. The produce of the rows, 

 planted wnth cut potatoes was at the rate of three 

 hundred and fifly-five bushels the acre, or twentv- 



