80 . CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BREED. 



more quickly rounded off; or, in other words, the frame 

 of the polled animal is not so fully drawn out to the 

 square as that of the Shorthorn. Critics have pointed out 

 in some of the best polled animals now or recently living, 

 a tendency to approach too nearly to the square type of 

 the Shorthorn. In a beef-producing animal, a broad, 

 square frame can hardly be said to be a blemish ; for if 

 it is thoroughly well covered all over, it will carry more 

 beef than a rounder frame. A compact, well-rounded 

 frame, however, has always been a leading characteristic 

 of the polled breed, and the main reason why a square 

 Shorthorn-looking frame is objected to in a polled animal 

 is, that such a form is foreign to the breed, and therefore 

 apt to arouse suspicious of impurity. The admirers of the 

 breed claim for it valuable natural properties not found to 

 an equal extent in any other breed ; and they fear that 

 should the breed lose its characteristically natural ap- 

 pearance, it may also lose its superiority in those valu- 

 able properties " the genuine article should always bear 

 its trade-mark." Careful improvers of the breed are 

 specially particular as to the hind-quarters. While they 

 aim at developing long, level, thick, deep quarters, they 

 also strive to retain the rounded appearance which was 

 originally one of the dominant characteristics of the 

 breed. 



The head of the polled male should not be large, but 

 should be handsome and neatly set on. The muzzle 

 should be fine ; the nostrils wide ; the distance from the 

 nostrils to the eyes of only moderate length ; the eyes 

 mild, large, and expressive ; the poll high ; the ears of 

 fair size, lively, and well covered with hair ; the throat 

 clean, with no development of skin and flesh beneath the 

 jaws, which should not be heavy; the neck pretty long, 

 clean, and rising from the head to the shoulder-top, and 

 surmounted by a moderate "crest," which contributes to 

 masculine appearance a desirable point in a bull. The 



