BREEDING OF STOCK. 
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cular, from this point upwards; the thighs well developed, 
and touching each other inwardly, to near the hock ; the skin 
covered with thick, soft, somewhat curly hair, and should be 
to the touch , when the animal is in a store condition, soft, 
elastic, and pleasant to the feel; but when the animal is fully 
fat (however soft the hair) the skin itself should be very firm, 
resistent to the pressure, like to the feel of a strained, well- 
distended air cushion. The bones should be as small as is 
compatible with the full, steady support of the animal. In 
the cow we everywhere expect greater roundness of form, a 
softer touch, wider hips, and a more delicate outline. In 
both a graceful carriage and lively air are desirable. Such 
I conceive to be th e perfect animal. Someone has said, “the 
perfect monster the world never saw,” but to this we aspire at 
our shows, and the “ prize taker ” is, or ought to be, the one 
which possesses the above points in the greatest perfection; 
however, practically, if there be a deep chest, a round rib, a 
broad loin, a mellow skin, and small bones, you have a beast 
which will repay your care, whatever faults may be found by 
the connoisseur in other parts of the animal’s structure. 
The lecturer then proceeded to consider what are the best 
principles of management. In other words, how we were to 
proceed to obtain animals of good colour, good form, prolific 
character, and sound constitutions, and condemned the 
system of breeding from young animals. And after a very 
interesting reference to the best colour of cattle, he said 
—I am as positive as I am of my own existence that 
a uniformity of colour, as unvaried as any other class of 
animals, could be secured in process of time, if breeders were 
unanimous in determining upon one of three, namely, red 
and white, pure white, or red. So long as roan , which is a 
compound colour, is determined upon, so long will it be a 
matter of the greatest possible uncertainty what the actual 
colour of the progeny may be. Certainly “ roan ” is a very 
beautiful colour, and the variety which it leads to makes a 
herd of “short horns/’a most picturesque object in the parks 
or meadows of a nobleman; but still this variety detracts 
from its dignity as a tribe, and lessens its effect when viewed 
as a herd in the stalls or grouped for sale in the market. 
This uniformity may be effected, because even now there is 
a kind of unity amid all this variety, for if we cannot deter¬ 
mine what the colour of the future calf will be, we can, at all 
events, predicate what it will not be ; we know it will not be 
entirely black , or have any patch of that colour; black, or 
anything approaching black, would taint the fair fame of the 
short-horn, as assuredly as would a woolly scalp, a flat 
