CHAP. I. 



ABERDEEN-ANGUS CATTLE. 



53 



of dead-meat to live-weight. As a rule, the beef of the northern Polls 

 is very well mixed, and contains a greater proportion of compact, finely 

 grained flesh, and less soft, coarse fat, than most other kinds of beef. 

 Inside, the carcass is usually well lined with fat of the finest quality ; 

 while in the density and quality of the carcass itself, the breed may 

 fairly enough claim the premier position among all our leading breeds 

 of cattle. 



Some place the small Devon breed alongside, if not even before it, in 

 this respect ; but with that exception we do not think that any other 

 breed in the British Isles will on an average 3 T ield so high a percentage 

 of dead-meat to live-weight. In butcher's phraseolog}', it " dies " well 

 and " cuts up " admirably. 



Photo by ff. ff Parsons. 



Fig. 14. Aberdeen-Angus Cow, "Juana Erica. ' 



Gold Medal Cow at the Royal Agricultural Society's Show at Lincoln, 1907. 

 The property of Mr. J. E. Kerr, Harviestoun Castle, Dollar, N.B. 



In all the leading fat stock markets in the country the breed is held 

 in high estimation, and, as a rule, commands the very highest prices 

 in fact, generally a higher price in comparison to its size and live- 

 weight than any of the other leading breeds. This is especially the 

 case at the great Smithfield Christmas market in London, where the 

 plump, compact Polls from the north never fail to find a ready sale at 

 the highest quotations. 



The late Mr. M'Combie of Tillyfour, formerly M.P. for West 

 A.berdeenshire, who began his herd in 1832, did more than any other 

 man to give the Aberdeen-Angus breed the high celebrity it has 

 attained as a beef-producing race. When the rage for Shorthorns was 

 at its height, the polled breed was threatened with extinction, but he 

 and other devoted admirers of the native race remained steadfast to 

 their first love . with the most satisfactory results to the once discarded 

 black skins. 



