CATTLE. 
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transmit their own valuable properties to their offspring; but he must 
not trust to this alone, or he will soon run the risk of degeneracy. In 
animals evincing an extraordinary degree of perfection, where the con- 
stitution is decidedly good, and there is no prominent defect, a little 
close breeding may be allowed ; but this must not be injudiciously 
adopted, or carried too far ; for, although it may increase and confirm 
valuable properties, it will also increase and confirm defects; and no 
breeder need be long in discovering that, in an improved state, animals 
have a greater tendency to defect than to perfection. Close breeding 
from affinities impairs the constitution and affects the procreative 
powers, and therefore a strong cross is occasionally necessary.” 
The dairy-farmer, however, is less concerned in this high breeding 
than the grazier; yet he is not by any means indifferent in the matter; 
for his aim ought to be, to obtain a breed no less valuable as milkers 
than for their disposition to fatten when the milk is dried. These two 
qualifications are not to be attained very easily ; yet they may be, and, 
indeed, have been attained, and especially among the improved short- 
horn breeds, as those of Durham and Yorkshire, or the cross-breeds 
between the old Shropshire, and the Holderness. The breeds most 
valued in the great dairies around the metropolis are mixed between 
the Yorkshire, Holderness, and Durham. For quality and quantity of 
milk they are eminent; they yield, on the average, each cow, two gal- 
lons of milk at a time, and often nine quarts; and when dry, they are 
in general readily fattened for the butcher. 
With respect to the points of symmetry in cattle, of which the vari- 
ous breeds exhibit several degrees of modification, there are certain 
rules which are generally acknowledged as applicable to good cattle of 
all kinds. 
The Bull. — The forehead of the bull should be broad and short, the 
lower part, that is, the nasal part and jaws, tapering; and the muzzle 
fine; the ears moderate; the neck gently arched from the head to the 
shoulders, small and fine where it joins the head, but boldly thickening 
as it sweeps down to the chest, which should be deep, almost to a level 
with the knees, with the briskets well developed. The shoulders should 
be well set, the shoulder-blades oblique, with the humeral joint advanc- 
ing forward to the neck. The barrel of the chest should be round, 
without hollowness between it and the shoulders. The sides should be 
ribbed home, with little space between them and the hips ; the whole 
body being barrel-shaped, and not flat-sided. The belly should not 
hang down, being well supported by the oblique abdominal muscles, 
and the flanks should be round and deep. The hips should be wide 
and round, the loins broad, and the back straight and flat. The tail 
should be broad and well-haired, and set on high, and fall abruptly. 
The breast should be broad; the. forearms short and muscular, tapering 
to the knee ; the legs straight, clean, and fine-boned. The thighs 
should be full and long, and close together when viewed from behind. 
The hide should be moderately thin, with a mellow feel, and movable, 
but not lax ; and it should be well covered with fine soft hair. The 
nostrils should be large and open; the eyes animated and prominent; 
the horns clean and white. 
