308 



HISTORY OF HEEEFORD CATTLE 



FIG. 14. TEETH AT 4 YEARS. 



show ; and still with the same hope, action was 

 deferred by the Hereford Society, and with 

 the same hope I brought the proof as exhibited 

 by the teeth of these five animals to Messrs. 

 Scott and Reynolds individually and before 

 going before the board. I had no doubt that 

 when the matter was fully presented to the 

 board they would take the facts as the 

 basis upon which to start an investigation to 

 determine whether the frauds had been com- 

 mitted or not. I confess to some surprise that 

 the committee named should have made a report 



that would carry 

 the impression that 

 if I wished to 

 bring this matter to 

 a test it should come 

 in shape of a protest 

 as the cattle were 

 brought into the 

 ring for exhibition. 

 It is true that I had 

 the right to make 

 a protest as suggest- 

 ed by the committee, 

 but it was not at all 

 obligatory upon me 

 to do it. It is true 

 that the board have a rule that requires of the 

 judges if they think an exhibitor by. false entry 

 or otherwise has attempted to commit a fraud, 

 shall report it to the superintendent of the 

 cattle department, and he shall report it to the 

 board, and they may expel such exhibitor from 

 exhibiting for two years, but this would not be 

 supposed to confine the board in taking cog- 

 nizance of fraud to these two processes. 



"I prepared engravings of the teeth, which 

 are recognized by long-established authorities as 

 indicating very closely the age of cattle, at dif- 

 ferent periods of their existence, and with these 

 engravings the views of Prof. Youatt's History 

 of British Cattle, which was published in 1834. 

 He says at page 279, in reference to the rings on 

 the horns indicating the age: 'These rings, 

 proving the first growth of the horns at the 

 base, have been considered as forming a crite- 

 rion by which to determine the age of the ox. 

 At three years old the first one is usually ob- 

 served. At four years old, two are seen, and so 

 on, one being added each succeeding year. Thus 

 is deduced the rule that if two were added 

 to the number of rings the age of the 

 animal would be given. These rings, however, 

 are perfectly distinct only in the cows. They 

 do not appear in the ox until he is five years 

 old, and often in the bull they are either not 

 seen until five or thev cannot be traced at all. 



These rings are not all distinct even in the cow. 

 The three-year or first may be so, but then 

 comes a succession or irregularities of surface 

 that can scarcely be said to be rings, and which 

 it is impossible to count. Another circumstance 

 which must also be taken into account, is that, 

 the heifer goes to the bull when she is two years 

 old or a little before; after that time there 

 is an immediate change in the horn and the 

 first ring appears, so under the rule a three- 

 year-old would carry the mark of a four-year- 

 old. To this may be added that after the beast 

 is six or seven years old these rings are so 

 irregular in their appearance, and so little to 

 be depended upon, that the age indicated by 

 the two horns is not always the same. I have 

 repeatedly seen a dift'erence of one year, and 

 in some instances I could not make the horns 

 agree by two years at least. Further, regard- 

 ing this process of nature, it is far too irregular 

 for any certain dependence to be pjlaced upon 

 it; it is a mere general rule with far too many 

 exceptions. There is also a certain instrument 

 called the rasp, the use of which has been said 

 to have made many an arm ache a little before 

 a large cattle fair. What human being can tell 

 whether the ring farthest from the head has 

 or has not been removed, or whether the second 

 may not have followed the first? If the rasp 

 is fine and gently used, and a little dirt with 

 or without soap is rubbed over the part, there 

 is nothing to tell tales, except the rather too 

 great smoothness of the horns thereabouts, and 

 this is said to be obviated by giving the whole 

 of the horn a smooth and polished appearance. 

 We have never 

 liked these small, 

 smooth, polished 

 horns. That art 

 had been at work 

 no one could deny, 

 and we were un- 

 charitable enough 

 to suspect that the 

 removal was 

 oftener employed 

 in the removal of ;i 

 defect than in the 

 heightening of a 

 beauty. Dealers are fig. 15 

 not so bad as horse 

 merchants, but strange stories have been told 

 of them. We are less scrupulous in describ- 

 ing this deception because we shall presently 

 speak of a method of judging cattle where 

 no roguery can lead us astray.' This is 

 Prof. Youatt's view of the unreliability of 

 judging the age of cattle by the horns. 'As 



<^2l 



TEETH AT 5 YEARS. 



