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SILK MANUAL, AND 



want these points. On the contrary, thin made 

 oxen, with f^at ribs, ami lar^'e hel ics, very fre- 

 quently I rotluce larj^-e qnantities of internal fat. 



'J he first part which siiews tiie fat in a feeding 

 ox, is the point or top of the rump, wiiich, in high 

 bred animals, is a j.rominent i)oiiU; sometimes it 

 protrudes too much, as the mass oC fut laid on 

 tliese is out of proportion to the lean, and there- 

 fore useless to the consumer. This is the ])art 

 Avhich frequently misleads young or inexperienced 

 judges in the true fatness of the ox, because fat 

 may he felt on this part, when it is very deticient 

 on most of tiie other points. 



The parts, on the other hand, which are the 

 last in being covered with flesh, are the j)oint of 

 the shoulder joint, and the top of the shoulder. 

 If these parts are, therefore, felt to be well cover- 

 ed, the other and better parts of the animal may 

 be considered ripe. Ripeness of condition, how- 

 ever, can only be rightly ascertained by handling, 

 for there is a great difference between the apparent 

 and real fatness of an ox. The flesh of an appa- 

 rently fat ox to the eye, may, on being bandhjd 

 by a judge, feel loose and flabby, but a truly fat 

 ox always feels " hard flit." With such the butch- 

 er is seldom deceived, while loose handlers give 

 no assurance of killing wel!. 



It is j)ro])er, in judging of tiie weight of a fat 

 ox, to view his gait while walking towards you, 

 which will, if the ox has been well fed, be accom- 

 panied with a lieavy rolling tread on the ground. 

 In this way a judge can at once come very near 

 to its weight. 



'I'he ajiplication of a!l thes(! rules and consider- 

 ations to the judging of lean stock, constitutes the 

 chief dilliculty to the judge. An ox, in high con- 

 dition, in so lar as its condition alone is under 

 consideration, can be judged of, as we have seen, 

 by any one ; and sometimes the fatness may l)e 

 so great as obviously to deform the symmetry to 

 any observer. 



Tlie superiority of a judge to otlttM's, in these 

 cases, consists in estimating the weight, observing 

 tli(; purity of the blood, and valuing the jioints of 

 tlie animal. 



]}ut in judging of a lean ox, its future condition 

 ami svMimctry must be foreseen. 'j he rules 

 wliicii I liave attemi'ted to (lescrii)e, will, if studied 

 )»ractically, ena!> e an inquiring observer to fore- 

 see tlicse points; and in judging between a nuni- 

 brr (if viduahle points, it sliould l)e rememliered, 

 the purity of breeding will always insure aj)iitude 

 to iaiti n, vvliicli, in its turn, wi;i insure tiie largest 

 i-;'itiunrraiion for the food consuiiicd. 



Sli' 1 p iiotli fat an<l lean, may l>e judged of l)y 

 nraily tht^ same rul<'s. The piir-ity of breeding 

 will h;' s.;en in tlic i-irgi-, fu 1, pi-niniin nt eyes, th«; 

 el. ■an iliiu boir.- of tin; hr.-id and legs, and the 

 large, thin, | ri,-l;ed uj) cars, sin (.n cacJi side ol" 



tiie top of the head, and in the short, thick, 

 smooth, clear hair of the face and legs. 



The section of the form of the fat sheej) is even 

 more mathematically like a parallelogram than 

 tliat of tlie fat ox. The touch of the skin is also 

 the same in kind, and is as sure an indication of 

 the disposition to fatten as in the ox. In regard 

 that wool varies so greatly in the many breeds of 

 sheep, I can only make this general remark on 

 the fleece best suited to every breed, namely, the 

 whole body should be well covered with wool, 

 with the exception of the face and legs, which are 

 always covered with hair. A large covering of 

 wool, not only protects them against the incle- 

 mencies of the weather, and the coldness and 

 dampness of the ground, but it supjilies a large 

 fleece to be disi)osed of to the wool buyer. One 

 deviation from tlie rules of judging cattle, must 

 be made while judging sheep, to which I have 

 already alluded, namely, while the neck of the ox 

 should be thin, that of the sheep should be thick ; 

 because a thin necked sheep is found to possess a 

 weak spine, and is generally a bad feeder. A 

 thin neck has thus the same effect on sheep that 

 a small tail has on cattle. As in cattle, a droop- 

 ing neck in sheep indicates a weakness of consti- 

 tution, arising from ()reeding in and in. 



Some of the rules for cattle and sheep are ap- 

 I)lical)!e to swine. Swine should have broad 

 straight backs, round ribs, thin hair, thin skin, 

 small tails, short and fine muscles, pricked ears, 

 sniri'l and fini; bones, and round and well turned 

 shoulders and hams. 



li: conclusion, it is obvious that the rules for 

 judging live stock are not founded upon arbitrary 

 assumptions. Had no natural means of judging 

 existed, man could no doubt have contrived rules 

 to suit his own convenience ; and in such a case, 

 he would jirobably have chosen such as he could 

 have most easily apjilied ; but unless they could 

 be applied to growing as well as the manure condi- 

 tion of animals, they would be of little value. 



But we have seen that natural means 'if judg- 

 ing do exist, and although they cannot be easily 

 understood without much observation and jirac- 

 tice, yet, by practice, they can be acquired, and 

 easily applied to the existing circumstances of the 

 animal, whatever these may l)e. Any jierson, it 

 is true, cannot at once perceive that their necessary 

 tendency is to lead to a correct judgment. Long 

 and careful p ;rsonal observation is requisite to 

 convince tlie mind of their value in that respect. 

 Tuition, without practical ol)servation, cannot of 

 itself do it. It has been the study of nature, in 

 short, which enabled men to establish these rules 

 for iiis guidance ; and as all the operations of na- 

 ture are regulated by general laws, these rules 

 must be of universal application, it is clearly 

 eslablislied by observation, as an uniform princi- 



