40 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



good land. The choice of neat cattle, therefore, for the 

 stocking of farms, must, in a great degree, be regulated by 

 the nature and quality of the soil intended to feed them on. 



' It is also essential that the cattle should be young, as 

 well as healthy and of sound constitution ; for the younger 

 they are, the more likely they will be to do service. Their 

 age may easily be known by the teeth ; like sheep, they 

 have no fore teeth in the upper jaw; it is in the lower, 

 therefore, by which this must be determined : the horns also 

 afford some guide in this respect. 



' The eight fore teeth of the lower jaw are shed, and re- 

 placed by others which continue through life : the two mid- 

 dle fare teeth fall out at about two years old, and are suc- 

 ceeded by others not so white. At three years old they 

 have two more next to those of the previous year ; and 

 thus by the two succeeding years all the fore teeth are re- 

 newed ; they are then termed full mouthed, and are five 

 years old. At the sixth year the row is even, the last two 

 being completely up. Besides these they have ten grinders 

 in each jaw. 



' At the age of three years the horns are smooth and 

 even ; in the course of the fourth year, a wrinkle or circle 

 forms round the basis of the horn near the head ; this is 

 every year succeeded by another, which always seems to 

 move the other forward. At looking therefore at the horns 

 of neat cattle, if the first circle be considered as three years, 

 it will be an easy task to tell the age of the beast at any 

 subsequent period. An implicit reliance cannot, however, 

 be placed on these marks, particularly in purchasing of 

 strangers, or cow jobbers, such persons having been known 

 to file down some of the animal's teeth and alter the ap- 

 pearance of the horns so as to giv^e them the semblance and 

 marks of young cattle of the most valuable breeds, and pass 

 them off as such to strangers.' 



Coios for the Dairy. In selecting cows for the dairy, the 

 following indications should be attended to. Wide horns, a 

 thin head and neck, dew-lap large, full breast, broad back, 

 large deep belly ; the udder capacious but not too fleshy ; 

 the milch veins prominent, and the bag tending far behind ; 

 teats long and lurge ; buttocks broad and fleshy ; tail long, 

 pliable, and small in proportion to the size of the carcass, 

 and the joints short. The Alderney breed gives a very rich 

 milk. The Durham short horns, however, exceed them as 

 respects quantity ; and we have the testimony of the Hon. 



