NEW ENGIiAN© FARMER, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse.)- T. G. FESSENDEN, EDI'TOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 18, 1835. 



NO. 19. 



■mm^'S S1?<S>^3Ea 



(From llie Hifjlilan'i and Agricultiiral Hocii*ty of Scotlnlid.l 



EV SIR JAMES PICKSOX, CATLLE DEALER. 



Were an ox, of fine symmetry and liigli condi- 

 on, placet! before a person not a jndfre of live 

 ock, bis opinion of its excellencies would be de- 

 vfd from .i very limited view, and consequently 

 ■om only a few of its qualities. 



He might be pleased with the tint of its colors, 

 li le plumpness of its body, and the smoothness 

 nd elossiness of its skin. He might observe 

 .rr lid admire the beautiful outline of its figure, for 

 lat might strike the most casual observer. He 

 light be even delighted with the gentle and coni- 

 bllacent expression of its countenance. All these 

 roperlies he might judge of by the eye alone, 

 n touching the animal with the hand, be would 

 el the softness of its body, occasioned by the 

 tness of the flesh. But no man, not a judge, 

 )uld rightly criticise the properties of an ox far- 

 ler. He could. not possibly discover, without 

 ution, those properties which had chiefly con- 

 aced to produce the high condition in which he 

 iw the ox. He %vould hardly believe that a 

 dgc can ascertain, merely by the eye, from its 

 ;neral aspect, whether the ox were in good or 

 id health ; from the color of its skin, whether it 

 ere of a pure or cross breed ; from the expres- 

 on of its countenance, whether it were a quiet 

 eder ; and from the tiature of its flesh, whether 



had arrived at maturity or no. The discoveries 

 lade by the hand of a judge might even stagger 

 is belief. 



He could scarcely conceive that that hand can 

 el a bidden property, — the touch, — which of 

 1 tests is the most surely indicative of fine qual- 

 if of flesh, and of disposition lo ftuten. It can 

 el whether that flesh is of the most valuable 

 nd ; and it can foretell the probable abundance 

 ' fat in the interior of the carcass. In short, a 

 dge alone can discriminate between the relative 

 dues of the different points, or appreciate the 

 rgregate values of all the points of an ox. The 

 irts of the ox by which it is judged are called 

 ooints." 



We have thus seen that a person even totally 

 norant of cattle may judge of some of the most 

 >parent properties or points oi' a fat ox ; but were 

 lean ox placed before him, he would be quite at 

 loss what opinion to pass on its present, and far 

 lOre on its future condition. The outline of its 

 gure would to him appear rugged and angular, 

 id consequently coarse. To him the body would 

 el a number of hard bones, covered with a tough 

 :in and tioarse hair. A judge, on the other hand, 

 in at once discover the good or the bad points of 



lean as well as of a fat ox ; because the |)roper- 

 ea of the former are the same in kind, though 

 = ot in degree, as those of the latter ; an<l, in ac- 

 ordance with the qualities of these (oints, he can 

 oticipate the future condition of the lean ox,8ave 



and excepting the effects of accidents and disease. 

 Hut, it may be asked, if a judge of cattle is a char- 

 acter so easily attaineil as is here represented, how 

 is it that the 0|.inion of a judge is always held in 

 de'creuce and is always referred to in cases of 

 difference of opinion ? 



This question adnjits of a very satisfactory an- 

 swer. Errors in the judging of cattle arise not 

 so frequently from not knowing the points to be 

 judged of, as from judges allowing one or more of 

 their favorite points the ))ower of too great an 

 influence over the future increasing condition of 

 the ox ; and as long as there are so many points 

 to be considered, and as most of them may be par- 

 tially altered by local circumstances, a difl'crence 

 of opinion may exist among judges of lean stock. 



Now, what are those points of an ox, a thorough 

 knowledge of which is so essential to constitute a 

 perfect judge? Could they be described and 

 illustrated with such i)recision, as that they may 

 be applied at once to every ox, in whatever con- 

 dition it may be, a great advancement would be 

 made towards establishing fixed rules for the right 

 judging of all the domestic animals. Fortunately 

 for the suppression of human dogmatism on this 

 subject. Nature herself has furnished rules for 

 ascertaining points for judgment, which can only 

 be discovered by long and constant practice. 

 Nevertheless, I shall endeavor to describe them 

 plainly, and after perusing the description, I hope 

 my readers will perceive that they are established 

 laws of nature ; and therefore imerring and appli- 

 cable to every species of cattle. Like other phe- 

 nomena of nature, a knowledge of them can be 

 acquired by observation. This knowledge is the 

 most difficult which a farmer has to acquire, inas- 

 much as the management of live stock is a much 

 more difficult branch of husbandry than the culti- 

 vation of corn. And although the importance of 

 this knowledge is acknowledged by every experi- 

 enced farmer, and a desire for its acquirement is 

 strongly felt by every young one, it is remarkable 

 that very little is said in professed works on agri- 

 culture on those rules which guide us in judging 

 of fitt or lean live stock. 



The first point to be ascertained in examining 

 an ox is the purity of its breed, whatever that 

 breed may be. '1 he ascertainment of the purity 

 of the breed will give the degree of the disposition 

 to fatten in the individuals of that breed. '1 he 

 purity of the breed may be ascertained from sev- 

 ei-al marks. 



The color or colors of the skin of a pure breed 

 of cattle, whatever those colors are, are always 

 definite. 'J he color of the bald skin on tlie nose, 

 and around the eyes, in a pure breed, is always 

 ilefinite, and without spots, 'i his last is an essen- 

 tial point. 



When horns exist, they should be stgooth, 

 small, tapering, and sharp-pointed, long or short, 

 accordmg to the breed, and of a white color 

 throughout in some breeds, and tipped with black 

 in others. The shape of the horn is a less essen- 

 tial point than the color. 



Applying' these marks on the different breed.s 

 in Scotland, as ilhistralious of the points which 

 we have been considering, we have the definite 

 colors of white and red in the Short horns. The 

 color is either entirely white or entirely red, or 

 the one or the other predominates in their mix- 

 tm-e. The skin on the nose and around the eyes 

 is uniformly of a rich cream color. The Ayrshire 

 breed in its purity is also <listinguished by the red 

 and white color oft the skin, hut always mixed 

 and the mixture consists of spots of greater or 

 smaller size, not blended together. The color of 

 the skin on the nose and around the eyes is not 

 definite, but generally black or cream colored. 

 Ill other i)oints, those two celebrated breeds differ 

 from one another more than in the characters 

 which I have just described. 



In the West Highland Angus and Galloway 

 breeds, the color of the skin is mostly black in the 

 animals of the purest blood, although red, dun, 

 and brindled colors, are occasionally to be seen 

 among them. 



The black color of the skiu of the nose and 

 around the eyes is indicative of the pure blood of 

 black colored cattle, but a cream colored nose may 

 frequently be observed among the other colors of 

 skiu. 



It would perhaps be hazardous to assert, in the 

 case of the West Highlanders, that the characters 

 above given are the only true indications of the 

 pure breed, for their origin cannot now be cer- 

 tainly determined ; but the characters given will 

 certainly apply to the purity of the blood in the 

 Short horn and Ayrshire breeds. 



The second point to be ascertained in an ox is 

 the form of its carcass. It is found, the nearer 

 the section of the carcass of a fat ox, taken longi' 

 tudinally vertical, transversely vertical, and hori- 

 zontally, approaches to the figure of a parallelo- 

 gram, the greater quantity of flesh it will carry 

 within the same measurement. 



That the carcass may fill up the parallelogram 

 as well as its rounded form is capable of filling up 

 a right-angled figure, it shoidd possess the follow- 

 ing configuration. The back should be straight 

 from the top of the shoulder to the tail. The 

 tail should fall iierpendicularly from the line of 

 the back. The buttocks and twist should be well 

 filled out. The brisket should project to a line 

 dropiied from the middle of the neck. The belly 

 should be straight longitudinally, and round late- 

 rally, and filled at the flanks. '1 he ribs should be 

 round, aud should ])roject horizontally, and at 

 right angles to the back. The hooks should be 

 wide and flat ; and the rump, from the tail to the 

 hooks, should also be flat and well filled. The 

 quarter, from the itch bone to the hooks, should 

 be long. The loin bones should be long, broad, 

 aud flat, and well fil'cd ; but the space betwixt the 

 hooks and the short-ribs should be rather short, 

 and well arched over with a thickness of beef 

 between the hooks. A long hollow from the 

 books to the short-ribs indicates a weak constitu- 

 tion, and an indifferent thriver. From the loia 



