ON SHORT-HORX CATTLE. 3 



loose, pliant hide, full of soft long- liair ; but in a poor beast, 

 " handling'" is the only test to discern the inclination to 

 fatten. Handling" is the most important subject we have to 

 consider : it is the grand characteristic of a short-horn. Of 

 what value would an animal be, possessed of perfect sym- 

 metry, if he could not be made fat without extraordinary 

 keep i* It has been said above, that it was Mr. Charles 

 Colling's fine touch in this particular that enabled him to 

 bring- the Ketton short-horns to their unrivalled state of 

 excellence : its importance has led me to dwell upon it at 

 some length ; but it is impossible to describe the kindly feel 

 which is conve3^ed to the senses by tlie liandVing of a first- 

 rate shorn-horn ; yet tlie knowledge of it is absolutely neces- 

 sary for a breeder to possess before he can bring- his herd to 

 any hig-h state of excellence. The next point of considera- 

 tion is the crop, in the shape of which, width of the back 

 and roundness of the rib, but in a less degree, should be 

 continued forward so as to leave no hollow behind the 

 shoulders. The shoulder on the outside should have a roll 

 of fat from the lower to the upper part of it ; the nearer to 

 the top, the more closely it connects the crop and the collar 

 in front of the shoulder together. In the anatomy of the 

 shoulder, modern breeders have made great improvement on 

 the Ketton short-horns by correcting the defect in the 

 knuckle or shoulder- point, and by laying- the toj) of the 

 shoulder more snugly into the crop, and thereby filling- up 

 the hollow behind it. This is an important improvement, 

 but it may be questioned whether the g'reat attention that 

 has been paid to this has not been attended by the neglect 

 of some other more valuable parts, for we no)r seldom find 

 those long hind quarters so peculiar to the Ketton short- 

 horns. Shoulders should be rather wide at the top ; that is, 

 they should not lie close to, nor be quite so hig-h as, the 

 withers; for when they are narrow at the top, and too 

 oblique in shape, they never cover with fat over tliem pro- 

 perh", and the neck of such animals is often too low. Mr. 

 Mason, of Chilton, whose attention was first drawn to this 

 point, with his wonted skill succeeded to admiration : the 

 j^rominent breasts and oblique shoulders of his beasts, on a 

 side view, were perfect; but the shoulders were close and 

 narrow at the top, and did not load with fat. The first 

 evidence of this, of notoriety, was in the beautiful cow Gaudy 

 (whose picture is to be seen in the first volume of the 



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