The use of the early-imported short-horn bulls and native cows led to the formation of many families of grades, some of them bred back to the sire, and others crossed high up, which have attained a very considerable local reputation in many sections. As instances of this, may be mentioned the Creampot stock, obtained by Col. Jaques from a short-horn bull, Cœlebs, and a superior native cow. A family of fine milkers still exists in Massachusetts, known by the name of the “Sukey breed,” supposed to have been derived from “Denton,” a very superior animal imported by Mr. Williams, of Northboro’, some forty years ago. Many of the best milkers of that section can be traced back to him. The Patton stock, originally imported into Maryland and Virginia, in 1783, and thence to Kentucky, may be classed in the same category. A part of these were at first known as the “milk breed,” and others as the “beef breed:” the first short-horns, at that time good milkers, and the latter long-horns, of large size and coarse in the bone. In Kentucky they were all known as the Patton stock. 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 common 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 high authority, that “the short-horns improve every breed they cross with.” 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 curved 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 home; hips wide and level; back straight from the withers to the setting on of the tail, but short from hip 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.