horn breeders, of the Booths, the Bates, the Wileys, the Hoppers, and a score more of short-horn patrons, have caused a healthy emulation, and the difference between the Hereford cattle now exhibited, and those shown some ten or twelve years ago, shows not only that these breeders have judgment and skill, but it must also be confessed, that the breed have fattening capabilities. The old Hereford was a deep-brown animal, sometimes with an ochery cast, free from white, like the Devons; but an improved breed now possess the county, in which the invariable fashion is a dark red, with a white face, white belly, and not unfrequently a white back. The skin is thicker and less mellow than that of the short-horn, nor has the hair the mossy softness or graceful curl of the latter. The eye is full and lively, the chest deep and broad, the loin also broad, and the hips well-expanded; a level broad rump, a round barrel, and full crop, full, deep flank, well-ribbed home; small bones, clean and perpendicular thighs, belly almost parallel with back, head small. Indeed, color and symmetry are perhaps the predominant qualifications which secure the high favor of the breeder.

From the above description it will be seen that the Hereford, possessing many essentials in form, is destitute of the quality producing early maturity and speedy disposition to fatten. He lays on his flesh, soft and mottled, on the best parts; he has full sirloins, rumps, and crop, but he shows his beef on the outside; and he requires much more time to develop his qualities than the short-horn. In milking qualities the cow is even behind the ox in feeding, and it must in general be three and a half to four years old before it can be fatted with any very marked success. They require a rich pasture, though a hardy animal, and the average weight when fat does not exceed eight to ten hundred pounds. Herefordshire being more a breeding than a feeding county, the cattle are reared there, and sold off at three years old to graze in the counties of Leicester, Northampton, and the rich grass districts; but, with all its good qualities, it must be admitted that it requires from ten to twelve months more to feed than its more favored compeer, the short-horn. We give a sketch of first-rate specimens. Much controversy has gone on lately as to the merits of the two breeds--the short-horn and the Hereford; but it must be conceded, that while the short-horn is penetrating into the heart of Scotland, into the south of England, and into the county of Gloucester, on the one hand, and into Norfolk on the other, the Hereford is hardly keeping his ground, he is making no inroads into any one important new grazing district; and unless the gigantic efforts now made to amend the characteristics of the breed effect something more, they will dwindle still further away.

The West Highland Scot.-Next to the Hereford in the ranks of fattening animals, we place this breed of cattle; and they well deserve it,— for they will fatten in places and on food on which both the short-horn and the Hereford, too, would perish. This West Highland breed is somewhat wild in its nature, and will not bear the least confinement, tying, or control. It is eminently gregarious, and if kept alone will generally fret and pine. The peculiarity of the breed is, that it is a small animal, generally deep jet-black, pale red, or dun, seldom any white spots on any part of the body; its horns are long, and turned

upward and outward. The coat is peculiar, soft, long, and absolutely curled, so as to form a sort of fleece. Another peculiarity is, that they form their beef almost entirely on the back, which is therefore straight; the body is round; and they lay on fat rapidly under circumstances in which another animal would literally starve.

He can assimilate, from a soil so barren as to be sterile for others, as much food as will enable him to feed-for to grow is out of the question, that process is performed on his native hills; if indulged, however, he will pay for it in the rapidity of his fattening, and the excellence of his beef. They will weigh, with amazingly little care, from seven hundred to one thousand pounds. The exceptions to this rule, however, are very important in special cases. The Duke of Northumberland having a very promising Argylshire "stot"-bullocks, as they are called more generally in England-kept him as long as he saw him improve, to see what he would weigh. He was five and a half years old, and weighed exclusive of offal, one thousand four hundred and four pounds. Though, perhaps, one of the heaviest of the breed ever slaughtered, he was neither the fattest nor the most inactive, but seerned in that state to possess all the activity which he had on his native hills. To give an idea of his keeping, and of the hardihood of his race, it is only necessary to give an account of his food. In the first winter he was turned out to a poor pasture, with a little bad hay; in the summer he had again a poor land pasture; in the next winter he had again a poor pasture, but a few turnips; in the following summer he had a fair pasture, and the same pasture in winter, with a more liberal allowance of turnips; in the third summer he was tolerably well grazed; in the fourth winter, he had as many turnips as he could eat in the sheltered straw fold, and in the summer in which he was fatted, he had all the indulgence of a feeding animal, viz., cut clover, hay, mangel-wurzel, turnips, bean-meal, and a little oil-cake; the latter of which he always disliked. Mr. Quarl says his "fat was distributed in an uncommonly equable manner, of a color resembling the finest grass butter, and as firm as wax; the muscle was in ample proportion, bright in color, of fine texture, and beautifully marbled by admixture of his excellent fat."

The Devon Breed.-If this had been a treatise on drawing cattle, we should have placed this middle-horned description of animals first in our list, instead of almost last. They are physiologically well formed animals; they are a very old and carefully-kept distinct breed of animals. They are docile and tractable, patient and gentle; hardy, notwithstanding their warm and humid climate; but they are not first-rate milkers, although very good feeders. They will grow to a considerable size; and they produce a class of beef at all periods of their growth of capital quality. The red color-all red, and nothing but red-is a sine qua non in a Devonshire ox; he has a moderately straight top, a fine serene countenance, and small head; a somewhat thin skin, covered with curly hair. The rump is narrower than in the short-horns and the chine lighter and flatter; but the brisket is large and full, the legs fine, the shoulder slanting, the neck long and thin. He is a beast of draught, and for this he is unequaled.

Mr. Parkinson, in his invaluable Treatise on Live Stock, gives the weight of some specimens of six years' old cattle, which weighed some eight hundred pounds, but the cows much less. He says of them : "On the whole, they must be allowed to be good cattle for their soils, and particularly where oxen are worked at the plow. When slaughtered, they are a sort of beef that suits the consumption of many customers."

Among the most successful breeders of Devonshire cattle may be mentioned Mr. Turner, of Barton, near Exeter, Mr. Quartly of Motland, (who is the most distinguished winner,) Mr. Merson of Brinsworthy, and Mr. Davy of Moulton.

Galloway Breed.-The Galloways are prominent fat-producing animals of Scotland, and are bred in great numbers in Galloway and Dumfriesshire. They are hornless, mostly black, are small in size, compact, short-legged, hardy, have thick mossy coats, and are good feeders. As milkers they are very indifferent, although, like all small milkers, the quality is rich. They are mostly driven south and fed off on the good pastures in England, and like the Highlanders, bring the highest price in the London markets. The joints are of a good size for family roasts, and the meat is of the best description; thus making it the most desirable.

The Angus Breed. We shall close our remarks on the fat-producing class of oxen by shortly describing a hornless or polled race of animalsthe Angus "Doddies," as they are called. Being bad milkers, they are generally used for grazing, and very much fatted in their native country; they are also preferred for feeding by the graziers of Leicestershire and Norfolk. Their color is generally black, but occasionally red; the head fine; the breast deep; the back not quite straight, being a little depressed at the loin and somewhat narrow; the eye full and clear; the touch generally good, and the hair thick and curly. The tendency of the flesh, as in all the hardy Scottish cattle, is to form on the back; but they will weigh from a thousand to fourteen hundred pounds.

Qualities are so co-existent with conformation that, as a general rule, it may be received as an axiom. And as dairy and butcher qualities are generally combined only to a very limited extent, and as both qualities are rarely high in the same breed, it becomes the agriculturist to make his selection according to the object he has in

view.

THE PRINCIPLES OF CATTLE-BREEDING.-We may offer a few remarks on the principles by which the breeder ought to be guided in the successful management or improvement of his stock, in whatever points he wishes it to excel, whether in those required by the grazier or the dairy-farmer. Every man, whether grazier or dairy-farmer, is desirous of turning his cattle to the most advantage; nor can this be done, unless the size of the farm, soil, climate, the produce, and the nature and extent of the pasturage, be well considered; for the cattle that the farm is best adapted for maintaining will be the most profitable. It is, however, essential, whatever the cattle be, whether for the purpose of the dairy, or for the immediate supply of the markets with their flesh,