supplement. AGRICULTURE AS PRACTISED IN BRITAIN. 1357 



tail, full buttocKs. and a projecting bhsket ; in short, the form is rectangular and perfect in its kind. 

 The colour is red. and the richest white, approaching to cream, or both colours are mixed. Limbs 

 small and clean, like those of the race horse, uniting strength with firmness. Head small, lengthy, 

 tapering, neatly set on a broad firm deep neck ; mildly beaming eyes, thin large veiny ears, and semi- 

 circularly bent, white or brownish coloured short horns ; in a word, a symmetrical harmony, which has 

 never been surpassed in beauty and sweetness by any other variety of the domesticated ox. 



2. The Shetland breed are uniformly black, light red, or black and white. " They are naturally the 

 smallest breed of cattle in the kingdom, weighing generally from 16 stones to 20 stones the four quarters, 

 and when extra fat. from 25 stones to 30 stones. The beef is of the very finest quality throughout, being 

 as small in the grain as mutton ; the fat well intermixed, and the flavour most delicious. In fact, in 

 point of quality, they are, without exception, the finest cattle that are bred in the kingdom. The cows 

 are not great milkers, but the milk is very rich." 



3. The Orkney and Caithness breeds. Orkney cattle are much larger than those of Shetland, and less 

 symmetrically shaped. They are slow feeders, and incapable of early maturity. The Caithness cattle 

 resemble those of the Orkneys. 



4. The Sorth Highland breed are bred in the counties of Sutherland and Ross. They are large, sym- 

 metrical, and feed well. 



5. The Aberdeenshire breeds are middle sized, symmetrical, generally black, and capable of being 

 fattened at four vears old to fifty or sixty stone. 



6. The Angus breed. Middle size, svmmetrical, generally black, quiet, and rather slow feeding. 



7. The Fife breeds have rather a ragged outline, and are "in general symmetry inferior to many of the 

 northern breeds. The features of the face are strongly marked, and the expression of the eye dull. They 

 have not an aptitude to fatten at an early age, but at four or five years they feed to great substance and 

 heavv weight. 



8. The West Highland or Kyloe breed, is the oldest in Scotland. Form symmetrical, legs short, 

 eyes full and sparkling, colour generally black ; the nearest Scotch breed in character and properties to 

 the short horns. . 



9. The Ayrshire breed is celebrated as milkers, but the Tweed-side short horn cows are now being 

 preferred, as on the whole the most profitable ; they are larger, give more milk, and take up less room, 

 and give less trouble in proportion to the quantity of milk they give. 



10. The Galloivay breed is readily known by being without horns. The head is rather large, and 

 looks coarse; the legs are short and strong; colour mostly black. The beet, when well and long fed, 

 is of first-rate quality. . 



11. English breeds. The Hereford is preferred, because they show, when fat, symmetry and points 

 the nearest in resemblance to those of the short horns. The cows are bad milkers, and the calf con- 

 sumes all the milk. They pay the feeder better than the breeder. The long horns feed to great weights, 

 but thev are rather coarse in the bone. The Sussex cattle are large, red, deficient in symmetry, and 

 when fat, frequently bought by the shipping butchers, while the Herefords are purchased by the cutting 

 up butchers. The Devons have a pure rich red colour, with white horns, fair symmetry, and conse- 

 quently middling qualitv. When fat and cut up, they want that fine mixture of fat and lean so common 

 in Scottish cattle and short horns. The Suffolk cattle are all dun coloured, and the cows are great 

 milkers. Very few oxen of the duns are fed fat, the bull calves being ted for veal, and the cows kept 

 for making butter. The iVelsh cattle have thick horns, thick coarse plain hides, and narrow backs, and 

 altogether are a very inferior breed. Graziers and feeders out of Wales never think of purchasing them 

 when they can find Scottish West Highland cattle. 



12 Irish breeds. There are three breeds of cattle in Ireland : the Kerry breed, of small size, which 

 belongs to the mountainous part of the country ; a small but larger breed, to be found chiefly in the 

 north of Ireland ; and a long horned breed, to be found in the low rich plains. The cows of the Kerry 

 breed are like those of the Ayrshire breed, great milkers. The breed of the plains are large and good 

 feeders and the grain of their flesh, being coarse, stands the salt, and is therefore well adapted for the. 

 supply of the navy. The heifers of the Kerry breed are in constant demand, fetch good prices, and make 

 good poor men's cows. . . . 



13. The Isle of Man breed is of a mixed character, combining various shapes and colours, so that, m 

 short, there is properly no breed. 



14 The Alderney and Je> sey breeds are too delicate for the climate of Scotland. 



15 The French breeds are not unlike the Guernsey breed. They are ill made, give excellent milk, 

 get fat on the rumps, but they are always thin on the ribs, and the beef is generally of a yellow tinge. 

 (Quart. Jour. Agr., vol. vi. p. 568.) . 



8459 —6809 The points or parts by which cattle are judged have been laid down in a masterly manner 

 also bv Mr Dickson (Q. J. A., vol. v. p. 159.), and applied to the different Scotch breeds in the subse- 

 quent volume of the same journal. The first point is the purity of breed, which is ascertained by the 

 colours of the skin being definite, and in particular by the bald skin on the nose and around the eyes 

 bein- without spots. The second point is the form of carcass, which, taken longitudinally and hori- 

 zontally, ought to be that of a solid parallelogram. A third point is a full, clear, and prominent eye 

 The next is the state of the skin, which ought to feel mellow ; a feeling wh.ch can only be understood 

 bv Ion- practice. Sheep may be judged of by merely the same rules. A refined tone in breeding can 

 be attained in any breed by judicious care in crossing within that breed ; and the true criterion ol a 

 finished breed is "like producing like." ... , _ . 



8460 Measuring cattle. The weight of all solid bodies can be ascertained by external measurement ; 

 but the s"hape of the bodies of cattle is so very irregular, and so much of the internal part is hollow that 

 none of the ordinary rules of calculation are applicable to them. Nevertheless, as it is obvious that the 

 bodies of two oxen which are the same in size will be nearly the same in weight, tables have been formed 

 as the result of repeated experiments, and these tables are now in general use, and found to be practically 



when dead) upon very unequal terms; but that great inequality will oe mucn ies»eueu uy »»»■»«" 

 measurement. The measurer should be a sufficient judge of beasts to know whether they are marketably 

 fet or not; if not, the measurer will overrate them ; and also something of their proper formation, so as 

 to be capable of forming a just opinion whether they are proportionably heavier or lighter in their fore- 

 ouarte?s P than in their hind-quarters ; and thus making such necessary allowance in computing the 

 wei-ht fro .rthe sliding rule, or from the tables in the third edition of Hillyard's Practical Farnnngand 

 GrnW The me hod of measuring is to put a string or tape round the beast uistbeh.nd the shoulder- 

 blade a°nd take its circumference in feet and inches; that is called the girth : then with the tape or 



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but the length Squires great care to take it correctly. The beast should stand quite straight whlUt 

 me isured and the exact part of the shoulder-blade should be telt." (Journ.A. E., ToL in. p. 338.) 

 840K-68?-' Feeding horned cattle on ran; or on steamed or boiled, food. Though boded corn 18 found 



