t judges as those of the
breeders along the Tees, who selected animals with greater reference to
fineness of bone and symmetry of form, and the animals they bred soon
took the lead and excited great emulation in improvement.

Importations of short horns have been frequent and extensive into the
United States within the last few years, and this famous breed is now
pretty generally diffused over the country.

The high-bred short horn is easily prepared for a show, and, as fat will
cover faults, the temptation is often too great to be resisted; and
hence it is not uncommon to see the finest animals rendered unfit for
breeding purposes by over-feeding. The race is susceptible of breeding
for the production of milk, as several families show, and great milkers
have often been known among pure-bred animals; but it is more common to
find it bred mainly for the butcher, and kept accordingly. It is,
however, a well-known fact, that the dairies of London are stocked
chiefly with short horns and Yorkshires, or high grades between them,
which, after being milked as long as profitable, feed equal, or nearly
so, to pure-bred short horns. It has been said, by very good authority,
that the short horns improve every breed with which they cross.

The desirable characteristics of the short horn bull may be summed up,
according to the judgment of the best breeders, as follows: He should
have a short but fine head, very broad across the eyes, tapering to the
nose, with a nostril full and prominent; the nose itself should be of a
rich flesh color; eyes bright and mild; ears somewhat large and thin;
horns slightly covered and rather flat, well set on; a long, broad,
muscular neck; chest wide, deep, and projecting; shoulders fine,
oblique, well formed into the chine; fore legs short, with upper arm
large and powerful; barrel round, deep, well-ribbed horns; hips wide and
level; back straight from the withers to the setting on of the tail, but
short from hips to chine; skin soft and velvety to the touch; moderately
thick hair, plentiful, soft, and mossy. The cow has the same points in
the main, but her head is finer, longer, and more tapering; neck thinner
and lighter, and shoulders more narrow across the chine.

The astonishing precocity of the short horns, their remarkable aptitude
to fatten, the perfection of their forms, and the fineness of their bony
structure, give them an advantage over most other races when the object
of breeding is fo