CATTLE HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS. 749 



public favor. A herd-book has been established to record them, 

 and the breed may be considered as established. While they 

 may not equal the Short-horns in early maturity, they perhaps 

 come nearer that breed as a beef producer than any other, and 

 will undoubtedly maintain a high position among the cattle of 

 the United States. 



The Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, or Polled Cattle. 

 These cattle are a hornless race originating in Scotland. They 

 have always been favorites with English farmers on account of 

 their large size and excellent fattening qualities, and also be- 

 cause they are of a mild disposition, and the absence of horns 

 makes them much safer to handle and ship than other cattle. 

 These cattle are described as straight and broad in the back, 

 nearly level from the head to the rump, round in the ribs, and 

 broad in the loin. 



In roundness of barrel and fullness of ribs they compare 

 favorably with our best breeds. The Galloway is short in the 

 leg and moderately fine in the shank bone ; and with the same 

 cleanness of bone and shortness of shank, there is no other 

 breed so large and muscular above the knee. The chest is deep, 

 broad, and capacious. The neck of the bull is thick, almost to a 

 fault, but a thin and delicate neck would not correspond with 

 the broad shoulders, deep chest, and close, compact form of the 

 breed. The head is rather heavy, the eyes not prominent, and 

 the ears large, rough, and full of long hairs on the inside; the 

 skin loose and mellow, of medium thickness ; the hair long, soft, 

 and silky. The prevailing and fashionable color is black, but a 

 few are of a dark brindled brown, or a dun or drab, and still 

 fewer are speckled with white. 



The bulls have a remarkable prepotency to impress their 

 characteristics on other breeds of cattle. In my own county I 

 have seen them crossed on Short-horns with the result that a 

 very large per cent of the offspring were hornless. It is often 

 the case when crossed with horned cattle, that small horns will 

 be found attached merely to the skin, instead of to the skull. 



The Galloway's are not good milkers; for while they give 

 rich milk, they can not be depended on to average more than 



