18 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



fat ; the thighs full and long, and when viewed from behind, 

 close together ; the legs short, for there is an almost insepa- 

 rable connection between length of leg and lightness of 

 carcase, and shortness of leg and propensity to fatten. The 

 bones of the legs and of the frame generally, should be small, 

 but not too small — small enougli for the well known accompani- 

 ment, a propensity to fatten ; small enough to please the con- 

 sumer, but not so small as to indicate delicacy of constitution, 

 and liability to disease. Finally, the hide, the most important 

 thing of all, should be thin, but not so thin as to jndiciite that 

 the animal can endure no hardships ; movable, mellow, but not 

 to*loose, and particularly well covered with fine and soft hair." 



Guided by these rules, the breeder can select females adapted 

 to either of the two objects specified, or, if he desires it, to 

 both combined, so far as that is practicable. 



If he expects to breed with any degree of certainty, he 

 should choose females that have never been coupled with the 

 bull. Of course, in making the selection, regard should be 

 had to the blood as well as to the quality of the animal ; and 

 even with the utmost caution, it cannot be expected that every 

 heifer will fulfil her promise as a breeder. She may transmit 

 just those qualities of her ancestry, which she herself has 

 escaped. 



But whatever may be her qualities, she cannot be used for 

 breeding in one direction, after she has been used for breeding 

 in another. A cow, therefore, which has borne calves by one 

 bull, cannot be safely used for breeding purposes with another, 

 unless it be desirable to preserve in some degree in her 

 progeny, the qualities of the former bull. So many facts 

 going to substantiate this theory arc recorded, tliat it seems 

 hardly necessary to dwell upon it further. The well-known 

 instances of the Arabian mare belonging to the Earl of 

 Morton, which after having been covered by a quagga, pro- 

 duced colts by thoroughbred horses with the marks of the 

 quagga upon them — of the mare of Mr. Morrison, which, after 

 having borne a mule, gave to her colts, sired by stallions, the 

 marks of the mule — of the Aberdeenshire heifer, which 

 produced her first calf from a Teeswater bull, and gave subse- 

 quent calves by Aberdeenshire bulls, the long horns of the 

 Teeswater — of ewes tainted in their first coupling by the ram, — 



