PRACTICAL FARMER. 



123 



eye, shewing much white, is expressive of a rest- 

 less cai)ricious disposition, which is incompatible 

 with quiet feeding. A cahn, complacent expres- 

 sion of eye and face is strongly indicative of a 

 sweet and patient disposition, and of course, kind- 

 ly feeding. The eye is frequently a faithful index 

 of the state of the health. A cheerful, clear eye 

 accompanies good health ; a constantly dull one 

 proves the probable existence of some internal 

 lingering disease. The dullness of eye, arising 

 from the effect of internal disease, is, however, 

 quite different in character from a natural or con- 

 stitutional phlegmatic dullness. 



The state of the skin is the next point to be 

 ascei-tained. The skin affords what is technically 

 and emphatically called, the touch, — a criterion 

 second to none in judging of the feeding proper- 

 ties of an ox. The touch may be good or bad, 

 fine or harsh, or, as it is often termed, hard or 

 mellow. A thick, firm skin, which is generally 

 covered with a thick set, hard, short hair, always 

 touches hard, and indicates a bad feeder. A thin, 

 meagre, papery skin, covered with thin silky hair, 

 being the op[)osite of the one just described, does 

 not, however, afford a good touch. Such a skin 

 is indicative of weakness of constitution, though 

 of good feeding properties. A perfect touch will 

 be found with a thick, loose skin, floating, as it 

 vvere, on a layer of soft fat, yielding to tlie least 

 pressure, and springing back towards the fingers 

 like a piece of soft, thick chamois leather, and 

 covered with thick, glossy, soft hair. Such a 

 collection of hair looks rich and beautiful, and 

 seems warm and comfortable to the animal: It 

 is not unlike a bed of fine soft moss, and hence 

 suclr a skin is frequently styled " mossy." The 

 sensation derived from feeling a fine touch is 

 pleasurable, and even deliglit("ul to an amateur 

 of breeding. You cannot hel() liking the animal 

 that possesses a fine touch. Along with it is gen-, 

 erally associated a fine symmetrical form. A 

 knowledge of touch can only be acquired by long 

 practice ; but after having acquired it, it is of it- 

 self a sufficient means of judging of the feeding 

 quality of the ox; because, when present, the 

 pro|)erties of synunetrical form, fine bone, sweet 

 disposition, and purity of blood, are the general 

 accompaniments. 



These are the essential points of judging lean 

 cattle ; but there are other and imjjortant consid- 

 erations which must claim the attention of the 

 judge, in forming a thorough judgment of the ox. 

 The proportion which the extremities bear to 

 the body, and to one another, is one of these con- 

 siderations. The head of the ox should be small, 

 and set on the neck as if it appeared to be easily 

 carried by the animal. This consideration is of 

 great importance in shewing cattle to advantage 

 in market. The face should be long from the 



eyes to the point of the nose. No face can be 

 handsome without this feature. The skull should 

 be broad across the eyes, and only contract a little 

 above them, but should taper considerably below 

 them to the nose. The muzzle should be fine 

 and small, and the nostrils capacious. The crown 

 of the head should be flat and strong, and the 

 horns should protrude horizontally from both sides 

 of it, though the direction of the growth from the 

 middle to the tip varies in the different breeds. 

 The ears should be large, stand a little erect, and 

 so thin as to reflect the sunlight through them. 

 The neck should be light, tapering from the front 

 of the shoulder and neck vein, with a gradual rise 

 from the top of the shoulder to the head. The 

 length of the neck should be in proportion to the 

 other parts of the animal ; butthis is a non-essential 

 point ; though I would prefer an a| jjarently short 

 neck to a long one, because it is generally well 

 covered with the neck vein. 



A droop of the neck, from the top of the shoul- 

 der to the head, indicates a weakness of constitu- 

 tion, arising frequently from breeding too near 

 akin. The legs below the knee should be rather 

 short than long, and clean made. They should 

 be ])laced wheie they apparently bear the weight 

 of the body most easily, and tiiey should stand 

 wide asunder. The tail should be rather thick 

 than otherwise, as thickness indicates a strong 

 si)ine and a good weigher. It should be provided 

 with a large tuft of long hair. 



The position of the Jlesh on the carcass is an- 

 other great consideration in judging of the ox, the 

 flesh on the difttrent parts of the ox being of va- 

 rious (|ualities. Ihe part called the spare-rib in 

 Edinburgh, and the fore and middle ribs in Lon- 

 don, the loins, the rump or hook hone, are of the 

 finest quality, and are generally used for roasts and 

 steaks. Consequently the ox which carries the 

 largest quantity of beef on these points is the most 

 valuable. Fles-h of fine quality is act.ia ly of finer 

 texture in the fibre than coarse flesh. It also <-on- 

 tains fat in the tissue between the fibres. This 

 arrangement of the fat and lean gives a richness 

 and delicacy to the flesh. 'ihe other | arts, 

 though not all of the same quality, are used for 

 salting and making soups, and do not fetch so 

 high a price as the parts just described. 



A full twist lining the division between the 

 hams, called the "closing," with a thick layer of 

 fiit, a thick flank, and a full neck vein, are gener- 

 ally indicative of tallow in the interior of the car- 

 cass ; but it frequently hajjpens, that all these 

 symptoms of laying on internal fat fail. The dis- 

 position to lay on internal fat altogether depends 

 on the nature of the individual constitution ; for, 

 it is often observed, that those individuals which 

 exhibit great fattening points on the exterior, do 

 not fill with internal fat so well as others which 



