No. a 



The Kintore Ox. 



249 



THE KINTORE OX. 



This remarkable animal was bred by Lord Kintore, of Keith Hall, Scotland, from an Ab- 

 erdeenshire cow and an improved short-horn bull, and was calved in April, 1837. The 

 above engraving is from a portrait, painted by Cooper when four years old : he was then sup- 

 posed to weigh 1400 lbs. 



He was exceedingly docile, his greatest pleasure being to associate with the dairy cows 

 when they came to the yard to be milked, and talk with them ; when approached or handled 

 he would scarcely move, but would not suffer the man who once bled him to come near him 

 for a week. He was fatted on cut grass, turnips, hay, oatmeal and oil-cake, a lump of salt 

 being placed in the manger, and a basket of fresh mould always standing before him, of 

 which he would occasionally eat a considerable quantity, which operated as a gentle purga- 

 tive. At .5 years old, rising 6, he was supposed to weigh 2.560 lbs., being universally ad- 

 mired for his beautiful symmetry, the equable manner in which the fat was laid upon him, 

 and his almost perfect levelness from the shoulder to the tail. 



The cattle of Aberdeenshire are small, hardy, but not docile ; living and thriving, to a 

 certain extent, on scanty fare, but with a disposition to grow to the full extent of which 

 their natural form is capable, when conveyed to the richer pastures of the south ; often, 

 however, at the age of 4 years, not weighing more than 350 lbs. An effort to improve them, 

 was first attempted by a cross with the long-horns, but this proved a total failure ; nor was 

 ihe experiment with the short-horns uniformly successful, as they either did not amalgamate 

 with the native breed, or produced a species of cattle too large for the soil ; in the case 

 above-cited, however, it was eminently successful, and proved a splendid exception, showing 

 the deep capacity of the short-horns to perfection. Lord Kintore is a great advocate for one 

 cross with the short-horns and the Aberdeen breed, and this animal was a sufficient proof of 

 what might be effected by it ; but the breed is found rapidly to degenerate if the cross is 

 farther pursued. It is remarkable how much any disiincl breed is affected by a single 

 "dip" of the improved Durhams — itself a mixed breed — and how, in particular, the growth 

 of the horn shows it: the Aberdeenshire cattle are very deficient in the beauty of the horns, 

 as they stand nearly erect, but sloping somewhat backward, and yet the horns of the Kin- 

 tore ox were very handsome, and in perfect harmony with his beautiful symmetry and pro- 

 portions. And the importance of a single cross is plainly perceivable in the progeny when 

 only a day old, especially in the formation of the hind quarter and over the loin, adding 

 depth and capacity to a carcass, which would otherwise have remained as thin and gaunt as 

 any of its progenitors ; at the same time, it is but fair to acknowledge that an addition of 

 beef is not always obtained, without a correspondent falling away of the milking propensity, 

 and therefore the cross with the Alderney — whose only qualification is butter — is not to be 

 recommended. 



