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 for the shambles. No animal of any other breed can so rapidly transform the stock of any section around him as the improved short-horn bull. But it does not follow that the high-bred short-horns are unexceptionable even for beef. The very exaggeration, so to speak, of the qualities which make them so valuable for the improvement of other and less perfect races, may become a fault when wanted for the table. The very rapidity with which they increase in size is thought by some to prevent their meat from ripening up sufficiently before being hurried off to the butcher. The disproportion of the fatty to the muscular flesh, found in this to a greater extent than in races coming slower to maturity, makes the meat of the thorough-bred short-horn, in the estimation of some, both less agreeable to the taste and less profitable to the consumer, since the nitrogenous compounds, true sources of nutriment, are found in less quantity than in the meat of animals not so highly bred. But the improved short-horn is justly unrivalled for symmetry of form and beauty. I have never seen a picture or an engraving of an animal which gave an adequate idea of the beauty of many specimens of this race, especially of the best bred in Kentucky and Ohio, where many excellent breeders, favored by a climate and pastures eminently adapted to bring the short-horn to perfection, have not only imported extensively from the best herds in England, but have themselves attained a degree of knowledge and skill equalled only by that of the most celebrated breeders in the native country of this improved race. In sections where the climate is moist and the food abundant and rich, some families of the short-horns may be valuable for the dairy; but they are most frequently bred exclusively for beef in this country, and in sections where they have attained the highest perfection of form and beauty so little is thought of their milking qualities that they are often not milked at all, the calf being allowed to run with the dam. [Illustration: Fig. 7. Imported Dutch Cow.] THE DUTCH is a short-horned race of cattle, which, in the opinion of many, as I have already remarked, contributed largely, about a century ago, to build up the Durham or Teeswater stock. It has been bred with special reference to dairy qualities, and is eminently adapted to supply the wants of the dairy farmer. [Illustration: Fig. 8. Imported Dutch Bull.]