366 CATTLE-BREEDING. 



a thin bull, however good. His want of flesh 

 may be to the penetrating eye of an expert 

 but the result of ordinary feeding and heavy 

 work; but the less experienced will inevitably 

 think that he is thin because corn and oats, and 

 oil-cake, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum, could not 

 make him a mountain of flesh, such as many of 

 his competitors are sure to be. As a practical 

 question I should meet this matter of overfeed- 

 ing by strong advice against subjecting a valu- 

 able animal to it. At the same time I do not 

 advise against the exhibition of really first-class 

 animals, nor exhibiting them in good condition. 

 Good judges will see their merit and they will 

 win despite ignorance and the prevailing faults 

 of our show-rings. Such triumphs are the kind 

 that tell in the way of solid reputation, and 

 they are the greatest educators. The unin- 

 formed looker-on usually thinks the largest 

 bull is going to win, no matter how coarse 

 he may be, no matter how patchy and badly 

 disposed the flesh may be upon his huge un- 

 gainly carcass. If such an one does win it is 

 thought all right; no comment is excited, no 

 inquiry awakened. If, on the other hand, a 

 compact, level, well-formed, but comparatively 

 low-fleshed bull wins, there is at once a ques- 

 tion made and his merits are canvassed, gener- 

 ally to the advantage of all lookers-on, who 

 come to understand that the closest approxi- 



