SHORT-HORN OX. Bred by Thomas Bates, Hatton Castle, Northumberland, England. Slaughtered, 1808; age, six years; girth, 9 ft. 2 in.; weight of two fore-quarters, 727 lbs.; Find-quarters, 632 lbs. ; tallow, 206 lbs.; hide, 96 lbs. ready for market by December. It will do no harm, however, and they will hold their flesh all winter, and on much less feed than if not so well fed in the earlier season, and they secure the large spring prices of winter feeding. This advantage can be fully obtained by feeding on ground grain in sheds and mangers, but cannot be secured by winter shock feeding. The proclivity of our farmers for increasing the extent of their farms, and the consequent investment of all profits in the acquisition of more acres, instead of improving the lands they already possess and erecting suitable buildings for their stock, are the principal reasons why so many poor cattle go to market not beef at all, but in passable store condition only. To illustrate the manner in which some cattle men get through the world, I may relate that, some time since, a friend of mine, who owned three hundred acres on the Scioto bottoms, mostly in corn, went out on his annual cattle-buying tour. He found a hundred head or more in the hands of an old farmer, who owned a thousand or fifteen hundred acres of rich land, mostly in pasture and enclosed by high rail fences. Back from the road was a dilapidated log-house, with but two rooms in it, a little garden patch of perhaps a quarter of an acre, and fifty to a hundred acres in corn, or other crops; but not another building or shanty, of any kind, on the premises, except an old log-stable, for the accommodation of a few horses, with their gearing. Everything else was "out of doors." The swine grunted and rooted about the grounds, and the turkeys and chickens roosted in the trees. There lived the man and his family, a large one, composed of his "old woman" and a number of full-grown boys and girls, as unkempt, ragged, and ignorant as himself. He had bonds and mortgages and cash in the bank. My friend purchased the cattle and went into the house to pay for them; needing a light, the old man went to a shelf in the room, took down a tea-saucer filled with pig's grease, a button, tied up in a rag, lying in the middle of it, the furzy end of the rag sticking up by way of a wick, which he lighted at the fire. With the aid of this glimmer they sat down to the table, figured up the sale, and the money was duly counted out. After being carefully recounted by the host-for he knew as well as anybody what bank-notes were worth-he carefully "made his mark" at the foot of a receipt which my friend had written. That done, the latter got up, put on his hat, and, as he was leaving the room, the old man blew out his light before his visitor had reached the door. Such men do not raise short-horns, although they know good cattle when they see them, nor will they read this article. This, I trust, is a rare instance. I have seen a few such, but they are fast disappearing. Our cattle-breeders, graziers, and feeders, as a class, are sagacious men, many of them possessed of great enterprise and liberality, from whose counsels I have learned much relating to their vocation. I have little doubt that, in the necessities of their business, and under the increasing facilities for stock transit to the seaboard markets, they will gradually and, I hope, speedily, adopt improved modes of preparing their beef cattle for consumption, as they have already introduced improved breeds into their herds, and with which they are rapidly progressing to great excellence. The United States, in soil and climate considered, is the best cattle country in the world! We have only to improve our advantage, to be able to supply all of Europe with the salted meats required beyond their own limited supplies. But we need a more general diffusion of the better breeds, and more painstaking care, than we have been accustomed to bestow upon them, to secure the most profitable results. The right breed is with us, and the stock is to be obtained at fair prices. If we do not avail ourselves of the services of such animals, the fault and the loss is our own. Those who have brought them here, at great expense of time and capital, and have bred them with so much care, have proved themselves public benefactors. CONCLUSION. Having shown the value of the short-horns, as the great instruments by which American cattle-breeders are to permanently improve the beef-producing qualities of their stock, it must be understood that the use of short-horn bulls alone will not effect this object. The land must be good, the pastures abundant, and their winter forage of good quality and in sufficient quantity. To all these requisites must be added a due care of the stock, and a continuous watchfulness of their welfare in warding off disease, and promoting their best health. Men who are too lazy and shiftless, or careless, to attend properly to their stock, will never succeed in either growing good cattle, or making money out of them. A vigilant eye and a diligent hand are necessary to the accomplishment of the great results which, in this discussion, I have labored to promote. AMERICAN SHORT-HORNS. FORMER reports have been illustrated with engravings of some of the finest animals of the Samuel Thorne herd, upon which English breeders have drawn repeatedly for infusions of fresh and desirable blood. The accompanying subjects are selected from the herd of James O. Sheldon, of Geneva, New York, who has recently added to his own that of Mr. Thorne. The excellence, if not unqualified superiority, of the united herd, will therefore be acknowledged. The following are pedigrees of the animals represented: "3d Duke of Geneva"-Roan; calved August 30, 1865; bred by James O. Sheldon. Got by Imperial Oxford, (4905;) dam Duchess of Geneva, by 2d Grand Duke, (12961;) g. d. Duchess 71st, by the Duke of Gloster, (11382;) gr. g. d. Duchess 66th, by 4th Duke of York, (10167;) gr. gr. g. d. Duchess 55th, by 4th Duke of Northumberland, (3649;) gr. gr. gr. g. d. Duchess 38th, by Norfolk, (2377;) gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d. Duchess 33d, by Belvedere, (1706;) gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d Duchess 19th, by 2d Hubback, (1423;) gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d. Duchess 12th, by the Earl, (646;) gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d. Duchess 4th, by Ketton 2d, (710;) gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d. Duchess 1st, by Comet, (155;) gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d. Duchess, by Favorite, (252) gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d. by Daisy Bull, (186;) by Favorite, (252;) by Hubback, (319;) -, by J. Brown's Red Bull, (97.) Gem of Oxford-Calved March 5, 1859; got by 2d Grand Duke, (12961;) dam Oxford, by Romeo, (13619;) dam Oxford 5th, by Duke of Northumberland, (1940;) dam Oxford 2d, by Short Tail, (2621;) dam Matchem Cow, by Matchem, (2281;) dam by Young Wynyard, (2859.) FRENCH NAPOLEON. THE stallion French Napoleon was bred and raised by William McFarlan, of Downingtown, Chester county, Pennsylvania, and is five years old, stands sixteen hands high, and weighs, when in middling condition, fifteen hundred and fifty pounds. His color is a beautiful dark, dapple steel roan, with black upon the mane, tail, and legs. He is a fast traveller for a horse of his weight, of fine car |