302 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II. 



interest to give a preference to any of these commodities, the form and proportions which 

 he studies to obtain, with a view to the greatest produce of animal food, may probably 

 require to be somewhat varied. In the mean time, it is only necessary in this place to 

 notice the shapes which indicate a propensity to fatten in the shortest time, and with the 

 least consumption of food, and to lay the fat on the most valuable parts of the carcass. 



2032. The head should be fine, clean, and small. 



2033. The collar full at the breast and shoulders, and tapering gradually to where the neck and head 

 join. 



2034. The breast broad, and well advanced before the legs. 



2035. The shoulders wide and full, joining to the collar forward, and the chine backward, so as to leave 

 no hollow in either place. 



2036. The back, from the shoulders to the tail, broad, flat, and nearly level 



2037. The chest full and deep ; the ribs rising from the back in a circular form. 



2038. The breadth of the back, and circular form of a deep chest, are always considered as essential 

 requisites. A flat-ribbed chest, however deep, and large bones, are invariably marks of a slow-feeding 

 animal 



2039. By a slight touch ofthejtngers, a good judge of cattle knows immediately whether 

 an animal will readily make fat or not, and in which part it will be the fattest. The 

 sensation is different from that of softness, being mellow and kindly. This skill, how- 

 ever, is only to be acquired by practice, and the feeling can scarcely be expressed in 

 words. There are several other indications of a propensity to fatten, which, though 

 perhaps not strictly essential, are yet very generally found to accompany it ; such as thin 

 ears, hides, and pelts, and small, fine, and straight bones in the legs. Horns are to be 

 chiefly regarded as a criterion for distinguishing one breed from another. A variety of 

 minor circumstances are attended to by skilful breeders, in selecting animals for propa- 

 gating, to which an unexperienced spectator would attach no importance whatever. 



2040. A breed may be said to be improved, when some desirable property, which it did 

 not possess before, has been imparted to it, and also when its defects have been removed 

 or diminished, and its valuable properties enhanced. Improvement, in its more extensive 

 application to the live stock of a country, may also be said to be effected, when, by a total 

 or partial change of live stock, the value of the natural produce of the soil is augmented, 

 and a greater quantity of human food and other desirable commodities obtained from it. 

 Whatever may be the merit of that skilful management which is necessary to the form- 

 ation of a valuable breed, a considerable degree of the same kind of merit may be justly 

 claimed by those, who have introduced and established it in situations where its 

 advantages had never been contemplated, and in which, indeed, the obstacles to its 

 success might have appeared almost insurmountable. The whole of the preceding part 

 of this section is taken from the General Report of Scotland, and is understood to contain 

 the sentiments of the best breeders of that countiy. 



2041. That the breed of animals is improved by the largest males is a very general 

 opinion ; but this opinion, according to some, is the reverse of the truth, and has done 

 considerable mischief. The great object of breeding, by whatever mode, is the improve- 

 ment of form ; and experience has proved that this has only been produced in an eminent 

 degree in those instances in which the females were larger than in the usual proportion 

 of females to males ; and that it has generally failed where the males were disproportion- 

 ably large. {Culleys Introdxiction.) The following epitome of the science of breeding 

 is by the late eminent surgeon, Henry Cline, who practised it extensively on his own 

 farm at Southgate. We present it chiefly because it is the work of an eminent and very 

 scientific man, and because it is almost the only systematic view of the subject produced 

 by a man of science. It is proper at the same time to state that though it is approved 

 and defended by Dr. Coventry at Edinburgh (Remarks on Live Stock. Pamph, 8vo. 

 1806.), it has been, and we believe is now, disapproved of by some eminent practical 

 breeders. (Farm. Mag. vol. viii. p. 5.) Mr. Cline's system, however, is translated into 

 most of the continental languages, and has lately been illustrated by M. de Dombasle 

 in France, and M. Hazzi in Bavaria, and others. 



2042. The external form of domestic animals has been much studied, and the pro- 

 portions are well ascertained. But the external form is an indication only of internal 

 structure. The principles of improving it must, therefore, be founded on a knowledge 

 of the structure and use of internal parts. 



2043. The lungs are of the first importance. It is on their size and soundness that the strength and 

 health of animals principally depend The power of converting food into nourishment is in proportion to 

 their size. An animal with large lungs is capable of converting a given quantity of food into more 

 nourishment than one with smaller lungs ; and therefore has a greater aptitude to fatten. 



2044. The chest, according to its external form and size, indicates the size of the lungs. The form oi 

 the chest should approach to the figure of a cone, having its apex situated between the shoulders, and its 

 base towards the loins. Its capacity depends on its form more than on the extent of its circumference ; 

 for where the girth is equal in two animals, one may have much larger lungs than the other. A circle 

 contains more than an ellipsis of equal circumference : and in proportion as the ellipsis deviates from the 

 circle, it contains less. A deep chest, therefore, is not capacious unless it is proportionably broad. 



2045. The pelvis is the cavity formed by the junction of the haunch bones with the bone of the rump. 

 It is essential that this cavity should be large in the female, that she may be enabled to bring forth her 

 young with less difficulty. When this cavity is small, the life of the mother and her offspring is cndan- 

 gcred. The size of the pelvis is chiefly indicated by the width of the hips, and the breadth of the waist. 



