BOS TAURUS. 



loose ; coat neatly haired, bright, and silky ; color of a middle 

 red, with a bold face characteristic of the true Herefordshire 

 breed." 



THE AYRSHIRE breed are second to none as milkers ; they 

 are peculiarly fine cattle, and thus described by Mr. Aiton in 

 his excellent treatise (p. 26) on the dairy breed of cows. 

 " The most approved shapes in the dairy breed are small 

 head, rather long, and narrow at the muzzle ; eye small, but 

 smart and lively ; the horns small, clear, crooked, and their 

 roots at considerable distance from each other ; neck long and 

 slender, tapering towards the head, with no loose skin be- 

 low ; shoulders thin ; fore quarters light ; hind quarters large ; 

 back straight, broad behind ; the joints rather loose and open ; 

 carcass deep and pelvis capacious and wide over the hips, 

 with round, fleshy buttocks ; tail long and small ; legs small 

 and short, with firm joints ; udder capacious, broad and 

 square, stretching forward, and neither fleshy, low hung, nor 

 loose ; the milk-veins are large and prominent ; teats short, 

 all pointing outwards, and at considerable distance from each 

 other, skin thin and loose ; hair soft and woolly ; the head, 

 bones, horns, and all parts of least value, small ; and the gen- 

 eral figure compact and well proportioned." 



THE NORTH DEVON. Of this breed the bull should have 

 yellow horns, placed neither too low nor too high, nor be too 

 thick, but growing gradually less towards the points ; the eye 

 clear, prominent, and bright ; the forehead small, flat, and in- 

 dented ; the muzzle fine ; the cheek small ; the nose of a 

 clear yellow, the nostril high and open ; the neck thick, and 

 the hair about the head curled. The head of the ox is small- 

 er, otherwise he does not differ materially from the shape of 

 the bull ; his action is free, and he is quicker in his move- 

 ments than any of our oxen ; but his legs are, apparently, 

 placed too much under his chest for speed, yet he possesses 

 this property in an eminent degree ; his legs are straight ; the 

 forearm is large and strong ; the bones of the leg, especially 

 below the knee, very small ; the tail is set on high, on a level 

 with the back, rarely much elevated, never depressed, is long 

 and taper, with a bunch of hair at the end ; the skin is very 

 elastic, mellow, and rather thin ; some have smooth hair, 

 which should be fine and glossy ; some curly, and these are 

 rather the most hardy, and fatten the best ; red is the most 

 favorite color ; many, however, are brown, and others are ap- 



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