THE GENESEE FARMER. 



277 



kin. A hard skin will have straight and stiff hair ; 

 i will not have a curl, but be thinly and lankly 

 istributed equally over the surface. A proper 

 razing animal will have a mossy coat, not abso- 

 ately curled, but having a disposition to a grace- 

 til cu^-l, a semifold, which presents a waving in- 

 quality; but as different from a close and 

 U-aightly-laid coat as it is from one standing off 

 he animal at right angles, a strong symptom of 

 isease. It will also, in a thriving animal, be 

 eked here and there with its tongue, a proof that 

 lie skin is duly performing its functions. 



There must be, also, the full and goggle eye, 

 right and pressed outward by the fatty bed be- 

 )w; because, as this is a part where Nature 

 Iways provides fat, an animal capable of develop- 

 ig it to any considerable extent will have its in- 

 ications here, at least, where it exists in excess. 



So much for feeding qualities in the animal, arid 

 leir conformations indicative of this kindly dispo- 

 tion. Next come such formations of the animal 

 self as are favorable to the growth of fat, other 

 lings being equal. There must be size where 

 ,rge weights are expected. Christmas teef, for 

 istance, is expected to be large as well as fat. The 

 ^mbol of festivity should be capacious, as well as 

 rime in quality. But it is so much a matter of 

 aoice and circurrstance with the grazier, that 

 rofit alone will be his guide. The axiom will be, 

 owever, as a general rule, that the better the 

 razing soil the larger the animal may be; the 

 oorer the soil, the smaller the animal. Small 

 aimals are, unquestionably, much more easily fed, 

 ad they are well known by experienced men to be 

 est adapted to second-rate feeding pastures. 



But, beyond this, there must be hreadth of car- 

 1S8. This is indicative of fattening, perhaps, be- 

 ond all ot^er qualifications. If rumps are fa- 

 orite joints and produce the best price, it is 

 est to have the animal which will grow the 

 )ngest, the broadest and the best rump ; the same 

 f crop, and the same of sirloin ; and not only so, 

 ut breadth is essential to the consumption of that 

 uantity of food which is necessary to the develop- 

 lent of a large amount of fat in the animal. Thus, 



deep, wide chest, favorable for the respiratory 

 nd circulating functions, enables it to consume a 

 irge amount of food, to take up the sugary mat- 

 ^r, and to deposit the fatty matter — as then use- 

 6ss for respiration, but afterwards to be prized. A 

 ill level crop will be of the same physiological 

 tility ; while a broad and open frame-work at the 

 ips will afford scope for the action of the liver 

 Qd kidneys. ' 



There are other points, also, of much importance: 

 36 head must be small and fine ; its special use is 

 idicative of the quick fattening of the animal so 

 instructed, and it is also indicative of the bones 



ling small and the legs short. For constitutional 

 3wers, the beast should have bis ribs extended 

 ell towards the thigh-bones or hips, so as to leave 

 ( little unprotected space as possible. There must 

 } no angular or abrupt points; all must be round, 

 id broad, and parallel. Any depression in the 

 an animal will give a deficient deposit of flesh 

 id fat at that point, when sold to the butcher, 

 id thus deteriorate its value ; and hence the ani- 

 al must be round and full. 



But either fancy, or accident, or skill— it is tin- 1 



necessary to decide which — has associated sym- 

 metry with quality and conformation, as a point 

 of great importance in animals calculated for fat- 

 tening ; and there is no doubt that, to a certain 

 extent, this is so. The beast must be a system of 

 mathematical lines. To the advocate of symmetry, 

 the setting-on of a tail will be a condemning fault; 

 indeed, the ridge of the back, like a straight line, 

 with the outline of the belly exactly parallel, 

 viewed from the side, and a depth and squareness 

 when viewed from behind — which remind us of a 

 geometrical cube rather than a vital economy — 

 may be said to be the indications of excellence in 

 a fat ox. 



Now, these qualities are inherent in some breeds; 

 there may be cases and instances in all the su- 

 perior bl'eeds, and in most there may be failures.— 

 Jennings' Cattle and their Diseases. 



VLABXaSQ SHEEP. 



Mr. S. C. Patteb, of "Warner, N. H., in answer 



to an inquiry, gives his method of marking sheep 

 as follows in the Country OentleTtian : 



" The ear should be punched with a No. 9 punch, 

 and allowed to get perfectly healed before putting 

 in the rivet. Care should be taken not to head 

 the rivet too tight, in which case it would be liiiely 

 to rot out. It should be headed on the inside for 

 the sake of convenience, as we wish to refer to the 

 number oftener than to the initials. The rivets 

 are such as are used by harness makers. Mine 

 cost $1 per hundred, all stamped. 



" We also stamp our sheep on the side with our 

 initials, as it is very convenient if sheep happen 

 to get mixed or strayed. A composition made of 

 tar and lamp black, or boiled linseed oil and burnt 

 umber, mixed to the consistency of cream, is much 

 used. 



" Many use this instead of rivets to number the 

 sheep, but it is apt to become nearly obliterated 

 before the next shearing, especially on merinoes." 



Coffee Growing in Vermont. — A paragraph 

 is going the rounds of the papers to the effect that 

 a certain Doctor in Vermont has Java coffee grow- 

 ing in his garden, and that it is less susceptible of 

 frost than beans, tomatoes or corn. The Oerman- 

 town Telegraph, well remarks: 



" One would suppose from the foregoing that cof- 

 fee was a vegetable, instead of a tree sometimes 

 growing fifteen or twenty feet in hight. Do beans, 

 tomatoes and corn stand out all winter ? "What a 

 comparison to make ! We have seen coffee trees 

 growing in the open ground here in Germantown, 

 and they stood the (summer) weather just as well 

 and a little better than the aforesaid vegetables, 

 but they were kept in a green-house for at least six 

 months in the year." 



Posts and Stakes, "for fedcing, should be cut, 

 pealed, and have the surface of those parts to be 

 inserted in the soil, charred. This will greatly en- 

 hance the actual value of the same by preventing 

 decay. Set them top down, and they will last 

 greatly longer than if set the other way. 



