The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 21, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1868, 24 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 21, 1906.

Or the hundred breeds of cattle that we have at the present day tho Shorthorn is unquestionably the most generally favored, for tho reason, doubtless, that it is the most useful “ all round ” animal that we can proauco : though many favor the Horeford brood from a similar standpoint. It may be at once conceded that the latter possesses many excellent qualities, inasmuch as they are docile, hardy animals that will thrive on the coarsest pasture; they are not deficient in size, and are capable of performing loDg journeys when in condition with comparatively

little loss in weight; for which roason thoy would often bo preferable to any other brood. J3ut thoy bear no coni' parison to the Shorthorn, the Jorsoy, or the Hutch Froisiau as milkers, and certainly cannot eomparo with the Shorthorn whore oarly maturity, fiuo noss of bone, and quality as well as quantity of moat is taken into account. Fvoryono will admit without question that, oxcopt for special purposes, the Shorthorn is tho animal that best suits our requirements, because for general purposos it is tho class of auimal that can most profitably bo produced. Other broods may excel in one particular or another; but compared with the Shorthorn as an all-round animal nono can approach it for gouoral excellence. For that roason tho attention of the reader will bo dirootod only to that class for tho prosent. It requires no groat porcoptive power to recognise the vast alterations that a close and

intelligent attention to details has produced iu other animals, notably the horso. We have examples of almost distinct classes being evolved by careful mating; and wo know that the Shorthorn itself is a product of evolution. Some two centuries ago it did

not exist; but by a careful selection and crossing it was produced from the famous Chillingham and Teeswater cattlo, with a slight dash of other blood. Later still a very small proportion of the Hereford and other

strains were introduced, but to an almost imperceptible degree, until the breed as we now know it has been

(what many would perhaps cfc.ll) perfected. But we have not yet arrived at perfection, though its approach is within measurable distance. Perfection, however, being our aim, it will not be out of place to give here a precis of what the term signifies. Condensed from the best authorities we have it thus :—One of the most important parts of the animal’s construction is the chest; there must be room enough for the heart to beat and the lungs to play, or sufficient blood for the purpose of nutrition and of strength will not be circulated, nor will it thoroughly undergo that vital change which is essential to the proper discharge of every function. We look first, therefore, to the wide and deep girth about the heart and lungs. A certain amount of flatness of side can be excused, but the grazier must look to width as well as depth, and the hooped as well as the deep barrel is essential. There must be room for the capacious paunch —room for the material from which the blood is provided. The beast should also be well ribbed home, particularly so in the ox, as it shows a good healthy constitution and a disposition to fatten. A largeness and drooping of the abdomen is excusable in the cow, for, notwithstanding it diminishes the beauty of the animal, it leaves room for the udder, and. if accompanied by swelling milk veins, it generally indicates her value in the dairy. The roundness and depth of the barrel, however, is most advantageous in proportion as it is formed behind the point of the elbow, more than between the shoulders and legs, or low down rather than, upwards towards the withers, for it diminishes the heaviness before,_ and the comparative bulk of the animal, which i 3 always an important consideration. The loins should be wide, and seen to extend far along the back. Of the hips it is superfluous to say that without being ragged they should be large rather than wide, and presenting when handled plenty of muscle and fat. The thighs should be full and long, close together when viewed from behind, and the further down they continue to be so the better. The legs should be short, for there is an almost inseparable connection between the length of leg and lightness of carcase, and shortness of leg and propensity to fatten. The bones of the leg—for they may be commonly taken as a sample of the bony structure of the frame generally —should be small, but not too small, for, if so, they indicate a delicacy of constitution and predisposition to disease. The head of the male cannot bear too masculine an expression, without being coarse, while the female should exhibit the opposite feature. The hide, not the least important thing of all, should be thin —but not so thin as to indicate a delicacy of constitution —movable, mellow, but not too loose, and Particularly well covered with fine, soft hair. Color, too, is a matter not to be disregarded, and is generally a good, though not infallible, indication of pure breeding; as, for instance, black noses are by many good breeders deprecated in the Shorthorn breed, but for what reason it is difficult to understand ; because it is well known to students of this subject that the wild Chillioghams were generally white with black snips and ears, and that breed were freely crossed with the improved Teeswaters from which the modern pure Shorthorns are largely descended, and thus accounting for a preponderance of white amongst the latter. If this is so (and it can hardly be disputed) where can be the ground for objection to the black snip or the sablo Gar of tho Shorthorn. ? Tho purity of the Chillingham breed has been preserved much longer than any other extant, and its introduction to the Teeswaters has had a beneficial effect, so that there would now seem little ground for objecting to any visible indications of its progressive influence. This prejudice, however, may have some foundation in the suspicion of the black muzzle pourtraying some relationship to a coarse breed of cattle called Lincolns whose distinctive colors were black and dun. But be that as it may, there can hardly be any reason for supposing that it can have a deleterious effect at the present day. [This subject will be continued on Saturday next.]