THE WEST HIGHLAND 313 



can be found. Unfashionable colors are brown (especially when 

 rusty) and dark red, with black hair about the muzzle and in the 

 tail. Broken color's are also in disfavor. The hair on the surface 

 appears long and rough, while beneath, next to the skin, is a soft, 

 mossy coat, the two combining to give admirable protection in 

 winter against very severe weather. The head is very bold, dig- 

 nified in carriage, and in the bulls is surmounted with long, 

 graceful horns which have a forward and slightly upward curve 

 in mature form, with the points wide apart. The horns are white 

 with animals of light colors, or white with dark tips with dark 

 colors. The color of the muzzle varies from buff or flesh shade 

 to dark, in harmony with depth of color of hair. The neck is 

 short and thick, with a mane on top and heavy dewlap below. 

 " In form," says John Robertson of Blair Athol, " it possesses 

 all the characteristics so much and so justly prized in the Short- 

 horn the straight back, the short legs, the broad chest, the 

 breadth of loin and depth of rib, and, in short, the * squareness ' 

 and solidity of form which always imply weight, whether in man 

 or beast ; while the noble branching horns, the fine, full, and 

 fearless eye, the short, broad, well-bred muzzle, the shaggy coat 

 of richest black or red or dun or brindle color, impart a pictur- 

 esqueness which is still further enhanced by that grace and delib- 

 eration of movement so distinctive of all animals reared in perfect 

 freedom." The temperament is wild and bold, due to a condition 

 of natural lack of restraint unknown among other breeds. 



The size of the West Highland cattle is comparatively small, 

 cows perhaps averaging 900 pounds and males 1200, although 

 one sees some larger on the hills and at the shows in Scotland. 

 At the 1911 Edinburgh Fat-Stock Show the steer Errol 

 Candidate loth was a handsome beast weighing 1702 pounds at 

 two years and ten months of age. 



The West Highland breed as a beef producer is superlative so 

 far as quality is concerned. The meat is fine of grain, the fat is 

 well distributed among the lean, the flavor is unsurpassed, and 

 the carcasses dress out well. In the British market, beef of this 

 breed ranks at the top. Yet these cattle feed very slowly and 

 mature late and seem best adapted to feeding under Scotch 

 mountain environment. 



