Red  Poll  Cattle. 
47 
HEAD. — Must  be  poll — i.e.,  not  artificially  polled — and 
without  slugs,  or  abortive  horns. 
NOSE.— White. 
HIPS. — Evenly  rounded;  not  prominent. 
In  all  other  particulars  the  commonly  accepted  points  of  a 
superior  animal  are  to  be  taken  as  applying  to  Red  Poll  cattle. 
Note  must  be  taken  of  the  objectionable  points,  viz.  : — 
Any  extension  of  white  in  front  of  the  udder. 
Any  white  on  a bull,  except  on  tip  of  tail. 
A cloudy  or  dark  nose. 
Animals  are  disqualified  from  entry  in  the  Herd  Book 
which  possess — 
Any  horns,  slugs,  or  abortive  horns. 
Any  signs  of  artificial  polling. 
A black  or  blue  nose. 
Any  white  except  on  the  tip  of  the  tail,  the  udder,  or  for 
a short  way  under  the  body. 
Any  colour  other  than  red. 
In  the  original  standard  description  compiled  on  the 
foundation  of  the  Herd  Book  in  1873,  the  following  additional 
points  are  mentioned  as  characteristic  of  a superior  animal  : — 
(1)  A neat  head  and  throat. 
(2)  A full  eye. 
(3)  A tuft  or  crest  of  hair  should  hang  over  the  forehead. 
(4)  The  frontal  bones  should  begin  to  contract  a little 
above  the  eyes,  and  should  terminate  in  a com- 
paratively narrow  prominence  at  the  summit  of 
the  head. 
These  last  four  points  have,  however,  been  omitted  from  the 
last  issue  of  the  Herd  Book  (1910).  The  first  corresponds  to 
Arthur  Young’s  description  of  the  Suffolk  cows— “ a clean 
throat  with  little  dewlap  ; a snake  head  ’’—and  is  always 
characteristic  of  a good  milker.  The  tuft  or  crest  of  hair  is 
only  occasionally  seen  now,  and  the  tapering  of  the  poll  is 
not  regarded  as  of  importance,  though  Youatt  in  his  Book  on 
Cattle  mentions  that  some  breeders  in  his  day  paid  attention 
to  it — “ If  the  crown  of  the  head  is  fine  like  that  of  a doe, 
and  drawn  almost  to  a point  on  the  top,  the  breed  is  supposed 
to  be  good.” 
In  his  View  of  the  Agriculture  of  Suffolk , 1797,  Arthur 
Young,  first  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  speaks 
in  high  praise  of  the  Suffolk  polled  cows  for  their  milking 
qualities. 
The  Rural  Economy  of  Norfolk,  1787,  by  Mr.  Marshall, 
describes  the  Norfolk  cows  as  the  Hereford  in  miniature, 
possessing  two  qualifications — superior  quality  of  flesh  and 
fattening  freely  at  an  early  age. 
