Jfkrm^rs Jl0titljlg l^isit^x. 



W^ i JUU — W- iW 



CONBUCTEIJ BY ISAAC HILL. 



•Those who L\noA is the EAnTH ahe tu'b chosen p::ori^K ok G^id, whose nnBAsxa he has m\db his teculiar uei'osite for substantial and genuine vihtue." — Jf-ffcraun. 



VOL. 8. NO. 12. 



CONCORD, N. H., DECEMBER 31, 1846. 



WHOLE NO. 96 



THK FAKMKR'S MOXTlIl.y VISI'VOU, 



I'l'lU.ISIlKll BY 



ISAAC HILL, & SONS, 



ISSUED O.N THE I.AST UAV OF EVERY MO.NTH, 



At Atheuiau Buildiug* 



OCrGENTiiAL AcENTs.— n. A. Blu., KeeTiG, N n. ; John 

 jVIabsh, Wtuittiiistuii !?t. Biistiin, M.iss. j Charles Wabhe n, 

 lirinley Koh , V\ orcester, Mass.: Thom'as Cn a nuler, Bedford, 

 K. H. 



TERMS — To single suhscribtrs, Fifiy Cents. Ten per 

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 pnyineiif of Pirr OoUars; t\\ eiily-fivc copies for Ten Dolhird; 

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 be niaile in advance. 



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{^r-AlI gentlemen who have burelofore acted as Aju'iits ;tto 

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 tome undt-r the new tennis, wiH please notify us uf tlie names 

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f||y^!SITOR> 



Points of Cattle. 



[ Tlio jiiinciples of iiii|in)viiig the lireefls of 

 ctittle Hiul otiier slock, .iie not fjeneiallj iiiidui- 

 slood ill this couiitiy; nor is niiicli kiiovvknlge 

 iiiaiiili'slod ill rejiard to the point.'; hy which aiii- 

 tlials, (i'.-^|.('ciall_v callh' tor faU(;iiiii^',) shoiihl hu 

 jiidfied ; and \vu have no doiiht liiat a want of'iii- 

 Corinaiiou on ihese niailfis, operates to lessen the 

 jiror-eeds arising (ioin \\k- ifarinjr oFstock, to the 

 aiiioiiiit of tueuty to lifty per cent. 'J'he Ibliow- 

 iii;^ ohsorvatioiis refer chiefly to the point.-; wliich 

 Shnrt-lliirn cattle should possess, to Ijitleii to the 

 best advaiita^'e, thonyli they are in general eipial 

 I) applicalile to other breeds desi^rned for the 

 same purpose. The remarks eoniprisc a portion 

 of till essay on cattle, pnlili.-hed by the Uuyal 

 A^^rieiiltnral Society. We would call particular 

 atteiiiioii to what is said ill reference to hamlling, 

 a jioiiit which, tlion;;h it is unqiiestionahly of 

 more imporlaiioe in cattle cle,~ij;ntd lor slani,'hter 

 than any other, is probably with ns the least un- 

 derstood or regarded.] — ^Ibrinij Ciiltivalor. 



Tim rutiip-bonc, when the beast is in a lean 

 stale, should be about two inches olf, ami the up- 

 per part of it level or even willi the iindtrside of 

 the tail. When (he rump-bone lies near to the 

 tail, it shows the smallest ipianlily of fat laiil on 

 that part; but the ^'encral dislike io this is" proved 

 by the name of "Tom Fool's I'ai" beinir j;iven 

 lo it. When narrow in this pari, there is^always 

 a want of substance and lean flesh between that 

 and the hip, jind a part between them where the 

 fat of the two points does not join together; 

 wlnreas wbeii the rumj) is farther from the fiil, 

 tlie fat is continued from it to the hip. The dis- 

 tance from the hip and rump should bo long and 

 full of lean fle^h ; the liips should be wide es- 

 pecially those of a female, which should be wider 

 in proportion than those of the male. The shape 

 of the hip is diliiiuilt to describe, but should be 

 something like a ronnd-|ioinleil trianjile, with one 

 end hiiiigjiig downwards, and on jHitting the fin- 

 gers on to the centre a hollow will be (bund. The 

 loin should be flat and wide; and when lean, two 

 knobs or pens should be li'll, which when fat, 

 will be the base of two ribs, called (iilse ribsj 

 w Inch connect the hip and rili together in a masi^. 

 The part eoniinonly called "the space" from the 

 hip to the rib. is generally recommended to be 

 fihort; but still it must be borne in mind that the 

 beef on this part is of more value than any other; 

 and if the loin be flat and wide, and the iib high 

 and round, no ill eflects will pioccec! from a 



moderate length of space, and it uno,uestionnhly 

 gives that length and gnindeur to the character 

 of an animal which is very desirable: it is the 

 want ol a wide loin and round rib, and not the 

 length of space that causes gut. Tlie rib should 

 come well out of the back, and bo broad, round 

 and deep. On putting the finifers and thumb on 

 each side of the rib, and drawing them togetln'r, 

 the skin should be tliick, pliant, and mellow, and 

 the hand he tilled willi long soft hair, and ihe feid 

 underneath should be smooth and pleasant. 'I'he 

 sensation derived from a line touch is (lelighilid 

 to an amateur breeder, but cannot he defined; 

 fc3W things denote a good hardy coiistiiiiiioii more 

 than a soft thick skin, full of long hair. I'littiug 

 the finger and ihiimb on each side of the rib as 

 above described is called " handling" in ihe norlli, 

 hut in the midland aiifl southern counties it is 

 generally called "ipialily." Whclber that term 

 had its origin at Smilhfield we need not in(|niie, 

 but certain it is that Mr. Charles Colling knew of 

 no such word as applicable to incbnation to.fiit- 

 ten. " Quality" is frequently used to denote firm- 

 ness of flesh, and sometimes it is misapplied, as 

 in hardness of flesh, but seldom used to signify 

 inclination to tiitten ; the mistake in this [larlicu- 

 l:ir has done much liHrm lo many lierd.s of .Short- 

 Horns. Let handling and qualily go together in 

 a lilt animal, and a good bred Short-Horn will 

 have waxy beelj under a loose, pliant hide, full of 

 soft, long hair ; but in a poor beast, "handling" 

 is the only test to discern the inclination tofjitten. 

 Handling is the most important subject we have 

 to consider ; it is the grand characteristic of a 

 Short-Horn, [or other beast designed for fatten- 

 ing.] Of what value would an animal be, pos- 

 sessed of perfect symmetry, if he could not be 

 m.-ide flit without extraordinary keep.' Jt has 

 been said above, that it was Mr. Charles Colliiig's 

 fine touch in this particular that enabled him to 

 bring the Ketion Short-Horns to their unrivalled 

 state of e-xcellence; its importance has led me to 

 dwell upon it at some leiiitb ; but it is impossilile 

 lo descriiie the kiiiiily ./iiV which is conveyed to 

 the senses by the luindHns; of a first rale Shorl- 

 Horn ; yet the knowledge of it is absolutely 

 necessary for a breeiler to possess before he can 

 bring bis herd to .-my high stale of excellence. 

 The next point under consideratioii is the croji, 

 in the shape of which, w'idlh of the back, and 

 roundness of ihe rib, but in a less ilegree, should 

 be continued forward, so us to leave no hollow 

 bidiini! the shoulders, 'i'he shniihlersou Ihe out- 

 side should have a roll of fiit from the lower to 

 tlie iijp|)er part of it; the nearer to ihe top, the 

 more closely it conneels the ciop and the collar 

 ill front of the shoulder together. In Ihe anato- 

 my of the shoulder, modern iireedcrs have made 

 great improvement on iliu ICctton Short-Horns 

 hy corrccling the <lci<.'ct in the knuckle or shoul- 

 der-point, and by laying the top of the shoulder 

 more snugly into ihe crop, and thereby (lUingnp 

 the hollow behind it. Tliis is an imporiant hii- 

 provement, but it may be questioned vvhciherthc 

 great attention that has been paid lo this lias not 

 been attended by the neglect of some other more 

 valuable parts, for we now seldom find those long 

 hind qtiarters, so peculiar to the Ketfcii Short- 

 Horns. Shoulders should be riither wide at lliv 

 lop; that is, they should not lie close to nor be 

 quite so liigh as the withers; for when they are 

 narrow at Ihe top, and too oliliqiic in the shape, 

 lliey never cover with fat over them [iroperly, 

 and the neck of such animals is often too low. 

 .Mr. Mason, of Chilton, wbo.se attention was first 

 draw n to this point, with his wonted skill, suc- 

 ceeded lo ndmiration ; "he prominent breasts and 

 oblique shoulders of his beasts, on a side view 

 were perfect ; bat 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 " Herd-book,") who, 



when slaughtered, was barely covered in this 

 point, nltbuiigh very fat in all other points. 



The neck and head are not ban<lling points; 

 but I will briefly notice them before 1 turn to the 

 lower part of the body. The neck should he 

 thick and tapering towards the head : a thin neck 

 is strong evidence of a want of flesh and sub- 

 stance in other pans. Thoio are various opiir- 

 ions on the shape of the bead ; some prefer it to 

 be long and lean, whilst others approve of its be- 

 ing thick and short ; but to be broad across the 

 eyes, tapering considerably below them to the 

 nostrils, which should be capacious, with a cream 

 or flesh-colored muzzle, will be nearly correct ; 

 although it is hut right to state that there are 

 many well-bred Short-Horns with dark muzzles. 

 This has been considered by many to be a recent 

 introduction, through some inferior cross; but 

 without denying iliai, let it not be forgotten that 

 some of the early Short-Horns were not entirely 

 free from it, although not very common ; but the 

 sire of Foljainbe could not boast of iiiucb deli- 

 cacy there. The horn has often been called a 

 non-essential, and in some respects that may bo 

 true; yet it must be admitted that a small, moist, 

 white or yellowish horn, coining well off the head 

 with a graceful circle, and with a downward ten- 

 dency at the end in a fciuale, and an inclination 

 upwards in an ox, contributes much to the char- 

 acter and appearance of an animal, and denotes 

 a feeding propensity. The eye has had its lash- 

 ion at difterent periods : at one time the eye higll 

 and outstanding from the head, and at another 

 time the sleepy eye sunk into ihe head ; but these 

 extremes have merged into the mediums of a 

 full, clear, and prominent eye, with a placid look. 

 The neck-vein forms a collar in front of the 

 shotilder, extending fioiii the upper jiart of it 

 down to the breast-end, connecting the fat on the 

 shoulder with the fat on the breast, thereby pro- 

 moting a uniform covering of fat throughout eve- 

 ry part of a beast, conimencing at Ihe rump, and 

 proceeding along the back to the hip, loin, rib, 

 crop, shoulder, and breast, without patidi, or any 

 one part having excess of flit beyond that of its 

 neighbor, 'i'he breast should come (irominently 

 out from between the lore legs, and extend down 

 to about two or three inches of the knee-joint, 

 and its width should never be lost sight of 



An animal with a widt hack and a wide brcnst 

 cannot fail to lia\c siibsi.nice, lore flanks, wide 

 fiire legs, and other iiidicaiions of a strong and 

 vigorous coiistiliilioii. The bullock is a part that 

 is not handled as a fat point, but should not pass 

 entirely mmoliccd, allhough in the hcst bred Short 

 Horns liiere is liule occasion lijr camion against 

 the black flesh on this part which someother an- 

 imals have ; but a svant of lean flesh is as great 

 an evil as an excess of it ; it is necessary, liiere- 

 fbre, that there shonhl be great tnlhiess nearly aa 

 low as opposite the flank, tapering from thence 

 to the hock; this fullness should be on the inside 

 as well as the outside of the thigh, and giving u 

 full twist, lining the division between the hams 

 with a continuous roll of fiit to the next point 

 under the belly. 



Hitherto my observations have been confined 

 to feeding propensities only, without any regard 

 to the dairy. It is noloriou.", and much to their 

 detriment, that many of Ihe most superior Short 

 Horns do not possess that quality in un eminent 

 degree. The annniil foss to the breeder on each 

 cow is very considerable, when we see that of 

 two cows consuming an equal quantity of food, 

 one gives six gallons of milk per day, and the 

 other gives two only, iliis loss of milk will re- 

 quire much gain in beef to compensate for it. — 

 Cows for the dairy require to be of the ."anie 

 shape, and possessed of the same feeding pro- 

 pensities as have been attempted to be described 

 above, with the addition of a well-shaped udder. 

 When in full milk, the udder should be capa- 

 cious and flesh-colored, with papa standing' 



