Neat Cattle

NEAT CATTLE. The term neat cattle is gen erally accepted as implying all breeds of the ox tribe domesticated by man. They are therefore as diverse in their characteristics as the nations and peoples who have bred them. In England, the United States and in Canada, they may be said to be bred to the most profitable use as they have been to the highest practical type of excel lence in the various breeds for beef, labor and milk. The judging of cattle is a fine art only to be acquired by intelligent thought and practice. There are judges so acute and critical, that by the touch, and other external signs, will judge of the live weight, dead weight of quarters, and tallow within a very few pounds. Yet, to the average farmer it would be mere guess work, and as liable to error on one side as the other. An acute and critical breeder upon the subject of judging cattle has said, were an ox of fine symmetry and high condition placed before a person not a judge of live stock, his opinion of its excellencies would be derived from a very limited view, and conse quently from only a few of its qualities. He might observe and admire the beautiful outline of its figure, for that might strike the most casual observer. He might be pleased with the tint of its colors, the plumpness of its body, and the smoothness and glossiness of its skin. He might be even delighted with the gentle and com placent expression of its countenance. All these properties he might judge of by the eye alone. On touching the animal with the hand, he could feel the softness of its body, occasioned by the fatness of the flesh. But no man, not a judge, •could rightly criticise the properties of an ox further. He could not possibly discover, with -out tuition, those properties which had chiefly conduced to produce the high condition in which he saw the ox. He would hardly believe that a judge could ascertain, merely by the eye, from its general aspect, whether the ox were in good or bad health—from the color of its skin, whether it were of a pure or cross breed—from the expres sion of its countenance, whether it were a quiet feeder—and from the nature of its flesh, whether it had arrived at maturity or not... The discover ies made by the hand of a judge might even stag ger his belief. He could scarcely conceive that that hand could feel a hidden property—the touch—which of all tests is the most surely indi cative of fine quality of flesh, and of disposition to fatten. It can feel whether that flesh is of the most valuable kind; and with decided accuracy foretell the probable abundance of fat in the interior of the carcase. In short, a judge alone can discriminate between the relative values of the different points, or appreciate the aggregate values of all the properties of an ox. The parts •of the ox by which it is judged, let it be remem bered, are called points. Thus it may be seen that a person even totally ignorant of cattle may judge of some of the most apparent properties, or points, of a fat ox; but were a lean one placed before him, he would be quite at a loss what -opinion to pass on its present, and far more of its future, condition. The outline of its figure would to him appear rugged and angular, and consequently coarse. To him the body would feel as a number of hard bones, covered with a tough skin and coarse hair. A judge, on the other hand, could at once discover the good or the bad points of a lean as well as of a fat ox; because the properties of the former are the same in kind, though not in degree, as those of the latter; and, in accordance with the qualities of these points, he could anticipate the future condition of the lean ox, save and excepting the effects of accidents and disease. But, it may be asked, if the qualifications of a judge of cattle may be so easily acquired as is here represented, how is it that the opinion of a judge is always held fh deference, and is always referred to in cases of difference of opinion? This question admits of a very satisfactory answer: Errors in the judging of cattle arise not so frequently from not knowing the points to be judged of, as from judges attributing to one or more of their favorite points too great an influence over the future increasing condition of the ox; and as long as there are so many points to be considered, and as most of them may be partially altered by local circumstances, a difference of opinion may exist among judges of lean stock. Now, what are those points of an ox, a thorough knowledge of which is so essential to constitute a perfect judge? Could they be described and illustrated with such precision as that they might be applied at once to every ox, in whatever condition he might be, a great advancement would be made towards establishing fixed rules for the right judging of all the domestic animals. Fortun ately, nature has herself furnished rules for ascertaining points for judgment, a knowledge of which can nevertheless be only acquired by careful observation and long and constant prac tice. The first point to be ascertained in exam ining an ox is the purity of its breed, whatever that breed may be, which may be ascertained from several marks. The color or colors of the skin of a pure breed of cattle, whatever those colors are, are always definite. The color of the bald skin on .the nose, and around the eyes, is always definite, and without spots. This last is an essential point. When horns exist, they should be smooth, small, tapering, , and sharp pointed, long or short, according to the breed, and of a light color throughout in some breeds, and tipped with black in others. The shape of the horn, however, is a less essential point than the color. The second point to be ascertained in an ox is the form of its carcase. It is found that the nearer the section of the frame of a fat ox, taken longitudinally vertical, transversely vertical, and horizontally, approaches to the figure of a parallelogram, the greater quantity of flesh will it carry within the same measure ment. That the carcase may fill up the par allelogram as well as its rounded form is capable of filling up a right-angled figure, it should possess the following configuration: The back should be straight from the top of the shoulder to the tail. The tail should fall perpendicularly from the line of the back. The buttocks and twist should be well filled out. The brisket should project to a line dropped from the middle of the neck. The belly should be straight longitudinally, and round laterally, and filled at the flanks. The ribs should be round, and should project horizontally, and at right angles to the back. The hooks should be wide and flat; and the rump, from the tail to the hooks, should also be flat and well filled. The quarter from the aitch-bone to the hook should be long. The loin bones should be long, broad and flat, and well filled; but the space between the hooks and the short-ribs should be rather short, and well arched over with a thickness of beef between the hooks. A long hollow from the hooks to the short-ribs indicates a weak con stitution, and an indifferent thriver. From the loin to the shoulder-blade should be nearly of one breadth, and thence it should taper a little to the front of the shoulder. The neck-vein should be well filled forward, to complete the line from the neck to the brisket. The covering on the shoulder-blade should be as full out as the buttocks. The middle ribs should be well filled, to complete the line from the shoulders to the buttocks along the projection of the outside -of the ribs. These constitute all the points which are essential to a fat ox, and which it is the business of the judge to know, and by which he must anticipate what the lean one, when fed, would realize. The remaining points are more applicable in judging of a lean than a fat ox. 'The first of the points in judging of a lean ox is the nature of the bone. A round, thick bone indicates both a slow feeder, and an inferior -description of flesh. A flat bone, when seen on a side view, and narrow, when viewed either from behind or before the animal, indicates the

.opposite properties of a round bone. The whole bones of the carcase should bear a small pro portion in bulk and weight to the flesh, the bones being only required as a support to the flesh. The texture of the bone should be small grained and hard. The bones of the head should be fine and clean, and only covered with skin and muscle, and not with lumps of fat and flesh, which always give a heavy-headed, dull appearance to an ox. The fore-arm and hock should also be clean and full of muscle, to endure traveling. Large joints indicate bad feeders. The neck of an ox should be, contrary to that of the sheep, small from the back of the head to the middle of the neck. The reason of the difference, in this respect, between the ox And the sheep is, that the state of the neck of the ox has no effect on the strength of the spine. A full, clear and prominent eye is another point to be considered; because it is a nice indication .of good breeding. It is always attendant on fine bone. The expression of the eye is an excellent index of many properties in the ox. A dull, heavy eye certainly indicates a slow feeder. A Tolling eye, showing much white, expresses a restless, capricious disposition, which is incom patible with quiet feeding. A calm, compla cent expression of eye and face is strongly indicative of a sweet and patient disposition, and, of course, kindly feeding. The eye is frequently a faithful index to the state of the health. A. cheerful, clear eye accompanies good .health; a constantly dull one proves the proba ble existence of some internal lingering disease. The dullness of eye, arising from the effect of internal disease, is, however, quite different in character from a natural or constitutional phleg matic dullness. The state of the skin is the next point to be ascertained. The skin affords what is technically and emphatically called the touch—a criterion second to none in judging mf the feeding properties of an ox. The touch may be good or bad, fine or harsh, or, as it is often termed, hard or mellow. A thick, firm skin, which is generally covered with a thickset, hard, short hair, always touches hard, and indi cates a bad feeder. A thin, meagre, papery skin, covered with thin silky hair, being the opposite of that just described, does not, how afford a good touch. Such a skin is ative of weakness of constitution, though of good feeding properties. A perfect touch will be found with a thick, loose skin, floating, as it were, on a layer of soft fat, yielding to the least pressure, and springing back toward the fingers like a piece of soft, thick chamois leather, and covered with thick, glossy, soft hair. Such a collection of hair looks rich and beautiful, and seems warm and comfortable to the animal. It is not unlike a bed of fine, soft moss, and hence such a skin is frequently styled mossy, The sensation derived from feeling a fine touch is pleasurable, and even delightful, to an amateur of breeding. Along with it is generally asso ciated a fine symmetrical form. A knowledge of touch can only be acquired by long practice; but, after it is once acquired, it is of itself a sufficient means of judging of the feeding quali ties of the ox; because, when present, the prop erties of symmetrical form, fine bone, good dis position, and a purity of blood, are the general accompaniments. These are the essential points of judging lean cattle; but there are other and important considerations which must claim the attention of the judge, in forming a thorough judgment of the ox. The proportion which the extremities bear to the body and to each other, is one of these considerations. The head of the ox should be small; and set on the neck as if it appeared to be easily carried by the animal. This consideration is of great importance in showing cattle to advantage in the market. The face should be long from the eyes to the point of the nose. No face can be handsome without this feature. The skull should be broad across the eyes, and only contract a little above them, but should taper considerably below them to the nose. The muzzle should be fine and small, and the nostrils capacious. The crown' of the bead should he flat and strong, and the horns should protrude horizontally from both sides of it, though the direction of the growth from the middle to the tip varies in the different breeds. The ears should not be large, but should stand a little erect, and he so thin as to appear translu cent when exposed to the sun. The neck should be light, tapering from the front of the shoulder and neck-vein, with a gradual rise from the top of the shoulder to the head. The length of thq neck should be in proportion to the other parts of the animal; but this is a non-essential point, though an apparently short neck would be pre ferred to a long one, because it is generally well covered with the neck-vein. A droop of the neck, from the top of the shoulder to the head, indicates a weakness of constitution, arising fre quently from breeding too near akin. The legs, below the knee, should be rather short than long, and clean made. They should he placed where, they apparently bear the weight of the body most easily, and should ,stand wide asun der. The tail should be rather thick than oth erwise, as thickness indicates a strong spine and a good weigher. It should be provided with a large tuft of long hair. The position of the flesh on the carcase is another great considera tion in judging of the ox, the flesh on the differ ent parts being of various qualities. Those parts called the spare-rib, fore and mid dle ribs, loins, and the rump or hook bone, are of the finest quality, and are gener ally used for roasts and steaks. Consequently, the ox which carries the largest quantity of beef on these points is the most valuable. Flesh of fine quality is actually of a finer texture in the fiber than coarse flesh. It also contains fat in the tissue between the fibers. This arrange ment of the fat and lean gives a richness and delicacy to the flesh. The other parts, though not all of the same quality, are used for salting and making soups, and do not command so high a price as the parts just described. A full twist, lining the division between the hams, called the closing, with a thick layer of fat, a thick flank, and a full neck-vein, are generally indica tive of tallow in the interior of the carcase; but it frequently happens that all these symptoms of useless to the consumer. This is the part which frequently misleads inexperienced judges in the true fatness of the ox, because fat may be felt on this part when it is very deficient on most of, the other points. The parts, on the other hand, which are generally the last in being covered with flesh, are the point of the shoulder joint, and the top of the shoulder. If these parts are, therefore, felt to be well covered, the other and better parts of the animal may be considered .` ripe: Ripeness of condition, however, can only be rightly ascertained by handling, for there is a great difference between the apparent and real fatness of an ox. The flesh of an appar laying on internal fat fail. The disposition to on internal fat altogether depends on the nature of the individual constitution; for it is often observed that those animals which exhibit great fattening points on the exterior do not fill with internal fat so well as others which want these points. On the contrary, thin-made oxen, with flat ribs, and large bellies, very frequently produce large quantities of internal fat. The first part which shows the fat in a feeding ox, is the point or top of the rump, which, in high-bred animals, is a prominent point; sometimes it pro trudes too much, as the mass of fat laid on these is out of proportion to the lean, and therefore ently fat ox to the eye, may, on being handled by a judge, feel loose and flabby; but a truly fat ox always feels hard fat. With such, the butcher is seldom deceived, while loose hand no assurance of killing well.