56 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK i. 



thick. Hair soft and wavy, with mossy undercoat ; wiry or curly hair 

 is very objectionable. 



From time immemorial the Galloways have been polled or hornless. 

 In the very earliest notices of the breed there is no allusion to the 

 presence of horns. It has always been an unvarjdng test of the purity 

 of a Galloway that it has not the slightest trace of a scur or horn. Any 

 so-called Galloway presenting such an appearance should be unhesi- 

 tatingly rejected as impure. 



The late Mr. James Biggar, writing in the "Live Stock Journal," said: 

 " Galloway cattle have qualities which specially fit them for im- 

 proving the stock on the vast ranges of the West. They are, first, 

 possessed of great hardiness and vigour of constitution, which specially 

 fit them for standing a severe climate. Second, they are without 

 horns. Third, they are uniform in type, of a deep symmetrical and 

 blocky character, on short legs, with good skins, and producing the 

 largest proportion of the most valuable meat. And, fourth, they 

 possess the power of transmitting these qualities to their produce in a 

 most marked degree ; so much so, that when a Galloway bull is crossed 

 with any horned breed, nearly 90 per cent, of the produce will be 

 black, and 95 to 100 per cent, without horns. Although they have 

 been little more than introduced in the West, the concurrent testimony 

 on all the above points is very strong, and a selection of Galloway 

 cattle would probably bring a higher average price west of the Missis- 

 sippi than any other breed. When the writer was in America in the 

 autumn of 1885, he inspected a herd of Galloways established near to 

 Kansas City, of which a number had gone from his own herd. He 

 was greatty astonished at the remarkable condition of the cattle. He 

 found 100 cows and heifers in a pasture of 160 acres, where they had 

 been for twelve months. They had got hay in winter, but no artificial 

 food, and were all very fat ; many were quite in fat show condition, 

 and all were remarkably smooth, plump, and full of flesh." 



THE HIGHLAND or WEST HIGHLAND BREED of horned cattle (see 

 figs. 16 and 17) is reared in the Western Highlands of Scotland. 

 The horns are large, sharp-pointed, and upturned, and the colour is 

 generally black, brindled, or dun. The hides are thick, and covered 

 with long soft hair of a close pile, which nature seems to have 

 intended as a protection against the severity of the climate under 

 which these cattle are bred, for they lose much of this distinction 

 when reared in a southern country. In other respects they are not 

 unlike the Galloway breed, many of whose best qualities they possess, 

 particularly their hardiness of constitution, beautiful symmetry, and 

 finely-flavoured flesh. Their straight and level backs, their round 

 and deep carcasses, and the quantity of good meat which they yield 

 in proportion to their size, are most valuable points. 



Of this breed there are several distinct varieties. The principal are the 

 Kyloes the aboriginal breed of Scotland, and existing in their greatest 

 state of purity in the Isle of Skye. In Perth, and Ross, and Argyle, 

 the pastures will carry a larger breed, and it is in the last-named county 



