Alfred Charles True

“ In the modern dairy cow the tendency to lay on flesh, so highly developed in beef animals, has been largely eliminated, and in its place the ability to convert economically the food eaten into milk has been cultivated in a high degree. Continued breeding to a special purpose has changed the former short milking period, limited almost to the pasture season, to a comparatively even flow of milk during ten or eleven months of every year. A cow that does not average six or seven quarts of milk a day for 300 days in the year, aggregating 4000 pounds, is not considered very profitable. ”

“ Within the last two centuries especially, much attention has been paid to selecting and breeding cattle adapted to special conditions and purposes, and to developing the beef and milk producing qualities. It is stated that there are now in various parts of the world over one hundred distinct breeds of cattle. The principal and most valuable breeds of America have been derived from Great Britain and other portions of northwestern Europe. ”

“ The Red Polls are a comparatively new breed, resembling the Devons, hornless, and inclined to the beef form. They are only fair dairy cattle, being in the class of breeds which aim to serve the dual purpose of milk and beef production. The Shorthorns, described above as beef cattle, although a typical beef breed, are to some extent dual-purpose animals, and some families have been notable for milk-production. ”

“ The various breeds continue to have their advocates and admirers, and each breed has some points of advantage. The pure bred stock, however, comprise only a very small fraction of the dairy cows of the United States and Canada. The larger part of the cows are grades, i.e. crosses of natives or ordinary cows with pure breeds. Among these are many excellent animals, rivaling the thoroughbreds in amount and economy of milk-production. ”

“ Like the Guernseys, they are not large, but persistent milkers, and their milk is the richest of any breed. For many years they have been bred especially for butter-production, although American breeders have striven with considerable success to increase the milk-yield without diminishing the quality. Good herds produce from 3500 to 4500 pounds of milk a year, and several herd records show averages of 6000 and 7000 pounds per cow. Single cows produce 1000, 1200 pounds of butter, and even more. ”

“ At home the average cow is expected to produce 5000 pounds of milk and 300 pounds of butter a year without high feeding. In the United States they are usually fed higher, and respond accordingly. There are records of several herds which have averaged over 6000 pounds of milk and 350 pounds of butter a year. Individual cows have produced 10,000, and nearly 13,000 pounds, of milk, and 500 to 700 pounds of butter a year. The Jerseys are the smallest of the better dairy breeds, though in the United States they have been considerably increased in size. ”

“ There are good and bad examples of the beef type among all the breeds, and it is more important that the animal should approach the beef type in conformation and development, and be so bred as to fatten readily and slaughter to good advantage, than that he should belong to any particular breed. ”

“ Although unsurpassed as beef cattle, many of the cows are good milkers, the best of any of the strictly beef breeds. The Herefords, originated in the county of Hereford, may be described as red with white on face, chest, belly, feet, and over the tops of the shoulders. They are close rivals or the equals of Shorthorns as beef cattle. They are inferior dairy cattle, many giving scarcely enough milk to raise a calf. The Galloways are jet-black and hornless, strongly built and rather low in stature. They are hardy in constitution and much esteemed for beef, but very poor dairy cattle. ”

“ The beef type of animals is rectangular in outline, low, broad, deep, smooth, and even—no wedge-shape or sharp protruding spinal column is wanted for the block. According to Curtis, “Broad, well-covered backs and ribs are absolutely necessary to a good carcass of beef, and no other excellences will compensate for the lack of this essential. It is necessary to both breed and feed for thickness in these parts. ”

“ The agricultural experiment stations have shown, however, that this is not the case, but that the value of milk for cheese-making as well as for butter-making is measured by its fat content. The richness of the milk in fat is to some extent a breed characteristic, although within the breed the variations in this respect are quite wide in the case of different cows. ”

“ The cows are better milkers. The Devons are an exceedingly symmetrical, beautiful race, originated in North and South Devonshire. They are of a rich red color, and although the bulls and cows are rather small, the oxen grow to great size. The Devon oxen have long been prized as work animals. In regard to the relative merits of the different beef breeds no general conclusion can be safely stated. ”

“ Animals that are soft and patchy, or hard and rolled on the back, are sure to give defective and objectionable carcasses, even though they are thick, and they also cut up with correspondingly greater waste.” A marked and important change has taken place in the profitable type of cattle within comparatively recent years. The present demand is for quality and finish rather than size. The heavy, inordinately fat or rough and patchy bullock has passed away under the demand for early maturity and plump, sappy carcasses of medium weight and minimum offal and waste. ”

“ The original wild type from which the various breeds of domestic cattle are descended is not well known. Through ancient sculptures and other records cattle can be traced back at least 4000 years, and the earliest evidences indicate that animals of different types were then known. ”

“ The Guernseys are rather larger than the Jerseys, stronger boned, and are claimed to be hardier. They are light in color, with darker shades approaching brown, and have a yellow skin. The milk of both breeds is unusually rich in fat, the fat-globules being large and separating readily in creaming. The Guernseys are liberal milkers. ”

“ They have beautiful heads, with intelligent faces, and rather small, close horns. The body is well rounded, with capacity for food and breeding, and the udder is of good size, with highly developed milk-veins. ”

“ They are red and white cattle, the colors being variously blended and often roan, rectangular in outline and having horns of moderate length. They are notable for early maturity, beauty of form, quick fattening qualities, and minimum amount of waste in slaughtering. ”