218 HISTORY OF THE SHORT-HORNS. 



THE COLORS OF SHORT-HORN NOSES. 



In the earlier history of them we find that cloudy, smoky, or even 

 black noses in the Short-horns were frequent, and some of the more 

 distinguished breeders had more or less of them among their best ani- 

 mals. But so far as we can discover they were never fashionable; 

 on the other hand they were objectionable, as a matter of taste, at 

 least. Yet withal, dark noses were inherent in the race, cropping out, 

 now and then, in almost every herd, even to the present day, and 

 only by the most careful weeding out of the dark-nosed young breed- 

 ing animals as they occurred, have the orange or drab noses become 

 the rule, and dark the exception. 



Some critical people have asserted that a dark nose is indicative 

 of impure blood ; that it came in with the Colling cross of the Gal- 

 loway cow; others that stealthy crosses of the West Highland, or 

 other outside cattle introduced it, but no proof exists of either, and 

 the question may as well at once be yielded that the dark nose is 

 inherent in the Short-horn race. We do not advocate a dark nose, 

 either in full, or cloudy, or in streaks, or spots, yet we have seen many 

 Short-horns with unimpeachable pedigrees, and descended from herds 

 long distinguished for their superior quality, which had either dark or 

 cloudy noses. Nor have we ever known that the color of the nose at 

 all governed the otherwise essential good qualities of the animal ; 

 yet so long as a good bull or cow can be found with an orange, drab, 

 or brownish nut-colored nose, of equally good quality otherwise, we 

 would not breed from a dark-nosed one more from the unpopularity 

 of the color than any other exceptional bad quality the creature might 

 possess. 



To make our position good in the way of an occasional dark nose 

 cropping out : We once had a choice Short-horn cow, with a perfect 

 orange nose, which we bred to a pure Devon bull, with an equally 

 good nose as the heifer, and the produce was a red roan calf with a 

 jet black nose, which a well-bred Devon never has. The black nose 

 of the calf in question came from the Short-horn blood, not the 

 Devon. A pure Short-horn nose of any shade between a ^^/-brown, 

 or deep drab, running up to a yellow, may be classed as unexception- 

 able in that particular. It is so in England. A light ^<?^-colored 

 nose is equally objectionable as a dark one, being usually accompa- 

 nied with a lighter colored skin, and sometimes a delicacy in physical 

 form or constitution, (although not always so,) beyond those animals 



