86 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK i. 



loss ; while, on the other hand, he will incur a diminution in his 

 profit, if he should not stock his land with as many cattle as it will 

 successfully carry. 



He should next endeavour to procure thoroughly good bulls, for 

 breeding purposes, an extra W or 20 being sometimes well expended 

 thus ; and he should decide on the breed or breeds he intends to keep, 

 for by purchasing and rearing from different breeds indiscriminately, 

 he will never have a good animal, and eventually his herd will 

 degenerate into mongrels. Neither must he pursue the system of 

 breeding in and in too far, or he will find his stock deteriorate 

 rapidly. 



Among the various professional breeders of modern times, none have 

 attained greater celebrity than Mr. Robert Bakewell, of Dishley (he 

 died in 1795), to whom we are indebted for man}' important improve- 

 ments in the art of breeding cattle. It is difficult to say what 

 were the precise principles that guided him in the selection of his 

 stock, but they were comprised in the four following particulars : beauty 

 cf form, or a pleasing proportion between the various parts of the 

 animal ; utility of form, or a disposition to accumulate flesh and fat on 

 the best and most useful parts ; a fine quality of the flesh ; and a 

 propensity to fatten at an early age and in a short space of time. 

 He paid much attention to what is generally termed the kindliness of 

 the skin, or a mellowness and softness, and yet firmness, equally 

 distinct from the hard dry integument peculiar to some cattle, and the 

 loose and flabby touch of others. 



The practice of judging the animal by the eye only was abandoned, 

 and the sense of touch brought to aid that of sight. By repeated 

 practice, the art of judging of the kindliness, or disposition to fatten, 

 arrived at such perfection, that any well-informed breeder, with 

 moderate personal experience, could, on examining a lean beast, tell, 

 almost on the instant, in what points or parts he would or would not 

 fatten. 



Sir John Sinclair has given an excellent account of this handling of 

 both fat and lean beasts : " When the hide or skin feels soft and 

 silky, it strongly indicates a tendency in the animal to take on meat ; 

 and it is evident that a fine and soft skin must be more elastic, and 

 more easily stretched out to receive any extraordinary quantity of 

 flesh, than a thick or tough one. At the same time, thick hides are of 

 great importance in various manufactures. Indeed, they are necessary 

 in cold countries, where cattle are much exposed to the inclemency of 

 the seasons ; and, in the best breeds of Highland cattle, the skin is 

 thick in proportion to their size, without being so tough as to be 

 prejudicial to their capacity of fattening." 1 



The principles of Bakewell, as above indicated, deserve very atten- 

 tive consideration. 



i. Beauty or symmetry of shape in which the form is so compact, 

 that every part of the animal bears a pleasing proportion to the rest. 



1 '-'Hints regarding Cattle," p. 157, &c. 



