Cattle

some of their best cattle traced into his blood, -which was more or less participated in by the breeders around them. The blood of this bull —Hubback—became so famous, indeed, that _any good and well bred beast which could trace its pedigree to him, was counted of rare value. This breed of cattle early attracted attention in America. Soon after the Revolutionary war, cat tle supposed to be pure Short-horns were imported into Virginia, cattle as remarkable for their milk ing qualities as for the flesh they carried since it reported that individual animals gave as high as -thirty-two quarts of milk a day. As early as 1797 the produce of these cattle were taken to Ken tucky by a Mr. Patton, that soon became widely disseminated over the West as the Patton breed. 'The editor of this work nearly forty years ago -saw descendants of this stock in Illinois, having all the characteristices of the short-horns and they were known as the Patton breed. Among those having them may be mentioned the late Rev. Mr. Morrison, near Momerice, 111. These eattle were still famous for their large size and milking qualities. Indeed those imported up to fifty years ago were remarkable for their milking qualities, and particular herds and strains of this stock still exist excellent in this quality as well as in their flesh making aptitude. A_s to the further history of the short-horns in America, Mr. Francis M. Rotch, of New York, a gentle man perfectly well qualified, in a report to the United States Government in 1861, says: The majestic size, proud carriage, and beautifully variegated colors of the Short-horn render him easily recognized by the merest tyro; but few who thus admire and recognize them are aware how many qualifications go to make up this splendid whole, or how carefully each point has been weighed and discussed, and its relative value decided; how the useful parts are divided from the ornamental and fashionable, and how systematically thc whole has been carried out. 'The high caste short-horn should have a small head, a broad, flat forehead, with no projection of the frontal bones; the face should be well cut out below -the eyes, tapering to a fine muzzle with open nostrils: the nose must he flesh or chocolate colored; any discoloration hinting towards black or blue is very objectionable, though occasiimally-seen in some of the highest bred families; the eye must be bright, proini tient, and yet placid; a small, piggish or hollow eye, or one showing viciousness or nervousness, are alike to be avoided, the latter indicating a bad feeder almost invariably; the horn should be well set on, curving forward, not too heavy, and of a waxy, yellow color at the base; the body should be square, massive, and symmetri cal, set on short legs which should be straight and well under the animal; the fore legs should be small in the bone below the knee, whilst the forearm must be broad and taperiug downwards, fitting level into the girth; the hind legs must be nearly straight; if the hocks are too much bent, turn inward, or not well under the body, it not only gives an awkward gait in walking. but is generally a sign of weakness; the neck is mod erately long, clean in the throat, and running neatly into the shoulders, which should riot be too prominent at the points, nor too wide at the top, else the crops will be certain to seem defec tive; they should mould nicely into the fore quarters, and be well covered with flesh on the outside; the neck vein should be well filled up with flesh, and form on smoothly to the shoulder points; the chest must be broad and deep, and full back or the elbows, which secures a good girth and consequent room for the most impor butt vital organs; the brisket should be full and broad rather than narrow and projecting; it is of inferior quality as beef, yet, as a point of beauty and as indicating a propensity to fatten, must not be overlooked. We now conic to the upper portion of the frame, carrying the hest beef, and here we must have width and thick ness and length; the crops must fill up level with the shoulders and back; the ribs must spring level and full from the back, and fill well up to the hips, (the short-horn is apt to be loosely ribbed up). The loin must be broad and well carried forward into the crops, and covered with thick flesh moulding nicely on to the hips, which though wide must not be too prominent, but slope away gradually to the rump or side bones at the tail; a quarter badly filled up between hips and rumps or scooped-out, as it is termed, is very objectionable; the back must he level ffom neck to tail, with no drops back of the shoulders, nor any rise where the tail is set on; the rumps must be well laid up hut not too high, else when the animal is fat we shall have those large masses of fat aggregated about them so common among the breed some years since. but now deservedly stigmatized as bad ; the twist should be well filled out in the seam, wide and deep, the outside thigh full, the flank deep, and forming with the fore-flank and belly (the latter well supported by its plates) a parallel line with the animal's back. The whole frame must be evenly covered with flesh, of a mellow elastic nature, readily yielding to the fingers, yet fol lowing them as the pressure is withdrawn ; the skin must be of a moderate thickness, neither papery (too thin) nor thick enough to be stiff and hard; it must be covered with a coat of thick, soft, mossy hair. As regards color the latitude is very great, from deep blood-red through all the intermediate shades and mix tures •to pure white, but any other colors, as brown, black, or dun, are never met with in thoroughbreds. Fashion has vindicated the rich red and purple roan as the most desirable colors, and after them red. White is sometimes objec ted to, under the impression that it is apt to spread through a herd and overpower the other colors; but this fear is more common in this country than in England, where white bulls are often ffsed. Red and white. in blotches, with defined edges not running into roan, is disliked, and the term patchy is applied to it. This discrimination, however, as regards color, is entirely arbitrary, animals of equal excellence and breeding being found of all these colors. We may gather from the foregoing pages that the essential peculiarities of the improved short horns are, early maturity, a great disposition to fatten, a remarkable evenness on laying on their flesh, a gentle, quiet temper, and, in some tribes and families, a large secretion of Milk. It has been claimed by some of their more zealous advocates in this country that they make good oxen, but we hardly think, however docile and powerful they may be, that they can compete in activity and speed with some ot' the other breeds Taking into consideration these charac teristics, we sec how admirably adapted they are for the larger portion of our country. Wher ever there is fair pasturage, good water, and shelter from the extremes of heat and cold. there the short-horn thrives. Over the broad prairies and blue grass pasture of the west, in the rich valleys of our great rivers, lie roams and flourishes as though in his native vale, and readily adapts himself to the change of situation and climate. But it is to the crosses of the short-horn that we must look for the most general adaptation and dissemination of the breed. The high value of the thoroughbreds for breeding purposes must for many years prevent their universal adoption, and it is only hy crossing them upon our so-called natives that we can reap immediate benefit from them Fortunately for us, no breed more promptly and strongly stamps its impress upon other blood than this one. All the writers on cattle unite in this opinion, and some even advocate crossing the short-horn or other pure races, with a view to their improvement. We shall usually find, however, the most remarkable and satisfactory results when a short-horn is put upon a mongrel or a lately established breed, as then the deep breeding of the sire will obliterate the numerous thin strains of the dam's blood, and the produce will resemble the superior race. The cross between the native cow and the short-horn bull almost always produces good milkers, and, as a whole they afford more milk of a better quality than other beef breeds, and, when dry, they feed quickly and make excellent beef. In this con nection we extract from the Fifth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture a portion of a statement made to them of the dairy performance of some grades of short-horns belonging to Mr. Robinson, of Barre. The cows

were half and three-quarters bred. Seven of them yielded, during the first seven days in June, 2,207* pounds of milk, averaging forty-five pounds per diem to each cow. From this milk 232 pounds of cheese was made, averaging one pound of cheese to nine and a half pounds of milk. The same cows gave during the three following days 955 pounds of milk, from which forty-one pounds nine ounces of butter was made. averaging one pound of butter to twenty three pounds of milk. It will be seen that the milk that makes one pound of butter will make two and a half pounds of cheese. These cows had no extra feed during the trial, having been turned to pasture on the 15th of May. This instance is selected not as a very extraordinary performance, but as a well-authenticated and carefully-conducted experiment. We inay, with out fear of contradiction, pronounce the females of the cross of the short-horn and native as essentially and almost uniformly deep milkers. The original strong predisposition to milk that marked the race, which is shared by none of the other pure races, is admirably fitted to combine with the occasional and accidental quality in the native and in the progeny to assure pre-eminence on this point. The steers are thrifty, and lay ou flesh rapidly and evenly, and are ready to turn off at two and a half or three years old. They are hardy as their native parent, and bear trans portation and driving admirably, shrinking less than the thoroughbreds. The greater propor tion of the cattle now brought from Ohio, Indi ana Illinois, Iowa, and further west, to supply markets of tbe seaboard cities, and for exporta tion, are crosses of this character, and none pay the feeder better, and again the butcher is rarely disappointed in the fifth quarter. Among the eastern importations were those of 1815. 1:822, 1823, 1828, 1835, 1839, 1849-50 into the State of New York. Into Massachusetts, in 1818, 1820, 1823. Into Kentucky, in 1817, and again in 1837-38 and '39. In 1834, large importa tions were made into Ohio, aud again in 1835-36. These were widely distributed, and that they were good animals may be inferred from the fact that they were sold at prices varying from $500 to $2,500 each. The first direct importation of short-horns from England to Illinois was in 1858. These were superior animals and sold at satisfactory prices. Since that time the work of importing and breeding has been carried on all over the North, the 3liddle States, the West, the Northwest and the northern line of States South, until the time came when animals superior to those English bred were sent back to England, at prices all the way up to $30,000 for single ani mals. In the breeding of short-horns Canada has not been behind the United States. Since 1835, importations have been common, from England. The breeding has been prosecuted most successfully, and of late years there has been many intercbanges of blood between the Dominion and the United States, back and forth, and with satisfaction to all parties con cerned, and to-day there are no higher bred or better short-horns in the world than are to be found in the United States and Canada. The points of short-horns, and which will apply in judging all beef animals, with slight variations, are worthy of a somewhat minute description. The points are of two classes, those observed with the eye and those felt with the touch. By the eye we observe the general contour of the size, length, breadth, thickness, fineness of body, head and limb, the loin, back, thigh, the spring of the rib and the manner in which the animal is ribbed close to the hlp bones. The touch, that is the feeling under the touch, shows length and quality of the ham, thickness and elasticity of the skin. Thus, the eye and expres sion of countenance is indicative of disposition and temper; an elastic, mellow, and yet firm hide of medium thickness, shows thick, well marbled flesh. A floating, soft skin of blubbery fat, indicates a bad feeder and often an animal of dark colored flesh. The butcher, in buying an animal for beef has now-a-days but a single object in view. The animal that will turn out the greatest amount of lean meat, in the prime parts with the least offal, and only a moderate amount of fat, for fat is now oue of the cheapest portions of the animal. Years ago in the days of tallow candles, the reverse was the case. The back, loin and ribs are the choice bits, next the rump and thighs, then the shoulders, while the neck and head are comparatively worthless The saga cious breeder while keeping this constantly in view, seeks to add early maturity to good flesh. He who comes nearest to this has the best animal whatever the breed, or the pedigree of the par ticular breed, for, the butcher's block is the final and the crucial test. Derived from a large breed, the improved short-horn is heavy, less in height than the originals of the Tees, rounder and deeper in the trunk, the limbs shorter, chest and hack broader, apparing less in bulk, while really greater in weight. The skin is light-colored, hair reddish brown or white or mixed, the muz zle tlesh-colored, the horns shorter and lighter colored than the former breed, the skin soft to the touch, the form square, the shoulder upright, and the hind-quartei large. The color can not be characterized by a single term, varying greatly from a pure white to a rich red, a mixture being quite common as roan or strawberry. The skin should be velvety and not too thin, while the hair should be plentiful and of a mossy soft ness. The head of the female is finer and more tapering than that of the male, the neck thinner and lighter, and her shoulder inclining to nar row towards the chine. The short-horn looks smaller than he is. He excels all other stock in facility of fattening, making good and heavy beef in thirty months, and even in two years. Henry Strafford, an excellent judge, thus sums up his points: The head of -the male animal is short, but at the same time fine; very broad across the eyes, but gradually tapering to the nose, the nostril of which is full and prominent; the nose itself of a rich flesh color, neither too light nor dark; eyes bright and placid, with ears somewhat large and thin. The head, crowned with a curved and somewhat flat horn, is well set on to a lengthy, broad, muscular neck; the chest wide, deep, and projecting; shoulders fine, oblique, and well formed into the chine; fore legs short, with the upper arm large and powerful; barrel round, deep, and well ribbed up towards the loins and hips, which should be wide and level; back straight from the withers to the set ting on of the tail, but still short, that is, from hip to chine, the opinion of many good judges being that a short-horn should have a short back with long frame. Well treated and kept, both alike in the same pasture, with equal winter for age and shelter, at eighteen months old the native may acquire a weight of 600 to 800 pounds, while the short-horn will weigh 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. At two and one-half years the native may have attained a weight of 1,000 pounds, and the short-horn of 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. The latter will be in a profitable beef-condition, while the former will be immature and not fit for mar ket. By adding another year to their keeping, the native arrives at perhaps 1,200 pounds anti the short-horn at 1,500 to 2,000 pounds, the for mer being still unripened, while the latter is at full maturity, and will sell at one or two cents per pound higher than the native. The common steer, at less than four and one-half years, is not fully ripe as a market-animal, and then, with the capital and interest invested in him, together with the risk of disease or death, and the addi tional forage for the extended time, he brings less money than a short-horn a year younger. These facts, together with the fact that the short horn has but a small amount of bone and offal according to its weight, and gives a much larger percentage of choice meat than the native, slaughtered at whatever age, prove that the short-horn is more profitable for the breeder, the grazier, the feeder, and, what is quite as important, the consumer.