The reason one finds so few good breeding bulls belonging to the first
class, is first, the small number of such animals compared to that
of cows; and next, the lack of knowledge of the best ones to keep.
Oftentimes for want of this knowledge, the best bulls were castrated for
oxen or for fattening, thus by chance, the poorest are often kept.
The best individuals have generally at birth, all the qualities which
characterize a superior animal. They are easily kept and fattened, for
the reason that their mother has much milk, and are soon ready for the
butcher. Inferior animals, on account of a smaller supply of milk, are
thin, and often malicious, of little value, and remain oftener in the
hands of the owner. Thus are sacrificed the good bulls, and the bad are
kept. Therefore, always select the choicest when they are young, to
improve the race.
It will thus be seen, Guenon divided his bulls into three classes: The
good, the mediocre, and the bad. He also divided them into three sizes:
The high, the medium, and the low. But he makes no difference between the
three sizes of bulls in his description of the escutcheon. He describes
each one of the three principal orders, leaving to the practitioner to
determine the intermediate degrees between the good and the mediocre, and
between the mediocre and the bad.
We do not repeat his descriptions, as they are based upon those of the
cows of the same classes, and the engravings tell the whole story. We
reproduce the engravings of the good and mediocre. But very occasionally
is one of the “rare” ones observed, but he says the Curved-line is the
most usual, then the Limousine, and lastly the Horizontal. What we
give is quite sufficient for all practical purposes. We advise all to
carefully select their breeding animal, which will, in most cases, be
from among what he calls the “mediocre.”
[Illustration: _Class I.—Flanders Bull._]
[Illustration: _Class II.—Left Flanders Bull._]
[Illustration: _Class III.—Selvage Bulls._]
[Illustration: _Class IV.—Curveline Bulls._]
[Illustration: _Class V.—Bicorn Bulls._]
[Illustration: _Class VI.—Double Selvage Bulls._]
[Illustration: _Class VII.—Demijohn Bulls._]
[Illustration: _Class VIII.—Square Bulls._]
[Illustration: _Class IX.—Limousine Bulls._]