56 



variations in colour as evidence that its ancestry is very mixed ; in 

 any case it has certainly existed practically unchanged for a great 

 length of time in its native districts. 



General Appearance of the Breed. It would be difficult to 

 improve on the description of the breed given by the late John 

 Robertson, factor to the Duke of Atholl. under whose management 

 the Atholl herd, one of the oldest and best in the country, was for 

 many years. He said : " There are few animals familiarly known 

 to us so graceful in form, colour and movement, as a thoroughly 

 well-bred Highland ox or heifer. In form it possesses all the charac- 

 teristics so much and so justly prized in the Shorthorn, the straight 

 back, the short legs, the broad chest, the breadth of loin and depth 

 of rib, and, in short, the squareness and solidity of form which 

 always imply weight, whether in man or beast, while the noble 

 expanding horns and fine, full and fearless eye, the exceptionally 

 short face, the broad well-bred muzzle, the shaggy coat of straight 

 and wavy but not curly hair of richest black, or red, or dun of 

 many shades, or brindled colour, impart a picturesqueuess which 

 is still further enhanced by that grace and deliberation in move- 

 ment so distinctive of all animals reared in perfect freedom." 

 Until recent years the general colour of the breed was black, 

 occasionally with white markings, but it is safe to say that now 

 the majority of the cattle are various shades of red and yellow, 

 with a good proportion brindled and some dun. The horns are a 

 striking feature in Highland cattle ; in bulls they should be strong 

 and ' ; come level out of the head, inclining slightly forwards and 

 also rising slightly towards the points. In cows the horns ought 

 to come squarely out of the head, and rise more quickly than in 

 bulls. They should be long, and on both male and female they 

 should be highly vascular and pink for some distance outwards 

 from the roots, and have a rich ' sappy ' appearance to the tips." 

 The hardiness of the breed makes the animals independent of house 

 accommodation during winter, and they can live and thrive on very 

 inferior food. 



Improvement of the Breed. The breed can boast of no Bakewell 

 and there has been no in-and-in breeding practised ; the great 

 improvement wrought upon the numerous originally hard and 

 unprofitable varieties of Highland cattle in the country many years 

 ago has been effected by selection, and is largely due to the efforts 

 of the Highland Cattle Society founded 1884. All attempts to 

 improve the West Highland by the introduction of alien blood 

 have failed, and it is difficult to see how such could be beneficial. 

 The severity of the climate and the extreme poorness of the food 

 in its native districts, preclude early maturity and great size, and 

 blending with other breeds could only result in loss of hardiness 

 without increasing the symmetry of form and quality of beef, in 

 which respects the breed is unsurpassed. 



Value for Beef Production. West Highland beef is of the very 

 first quality, and, for grazing animals, the crosses with the Shorthorn 

 and with bulls of other early-maturity beef-breeds are in every way 

 successful. A good deal of the hardiness of the breed is trans- 

 mitted to the crosses, though naturally they are not suited for the 



