i;;04 STOCK-RAISING : organisation and ENCOURAGEMEN'l' 



superiority over all the other selected races in surmounting unfavourable 

 environmental conditions. 



Among other breeds, the Polled Durham and Polled Hereford proved 

 their efficacy in the improvement of ordinary cattle by the rapidity with 

 which shortening of the horn is produced by crossing ; the Red Poll breed 

 has also asserted itself as a good dairy animal with good fattening qualities, 

 as is proved b}' the carcasses of this breed shown at exhibitions, and it 

 has thus established its right to exist as a dual-purpose breed. Other breeds 

 like the Devon, have not yet received that final sanction of practice which 

 enables them to be regarded definitively as excellent. 



Naturally, the dairy breeds, in order to stand their ground, have had 

 to compete with the Shorthorns and Devons imported by the first colonists ; 

 consequently the progress of dairy breeds generally has, with the exception 

 of some rivalry between the Holstein-Friesians and the Jersey's, been confined 

 to the undertaking, almost in co-operative form, of the conquest of the lands 

 occvipied by the red, white and roan cattle. The very fact, however, of 

 the varied distribution of the races establishes differences between them 

 as regards their adaptation and intrinsic value, which differences are not 

 always admitted by their partisans. The privileged position gained by the 

 Holstein-Friesian breed in the belts surrounding big towns is a testimony to 

 its great production of milk for sale, just as the fact of wide distribution of 

 the Jersey- breed in the South tends to prove its greater resistance to the 

 hot climate. The persistance of many able farmers in maintaining the Jer- 

 sey breed on certain model farms establishes the quality of its products and 

 its ability' for economical production under the most intensive working con- 

 ditions. 



The merits of the iVyrshire and Guernsey breeds are comparatively 

 less popular in the United States. The Guernsey breed, in the belt where 

 it is favoured, has already stood the test as a rival of the Holstein-Friesian, 

 and also as a competitor with the Jersey in the capacity of a breed capable 

 of economicalh' yielding a product of superior quality. The Guernsey breed 

 to a certain extent possesses the general characters of the Shorthorn 

 breed for butcher's cattle, and no doubt it would have formed the inter- 

 mediate link in specialisation if the demand for a highly specialised breed 

 had not arisen too rapidly for the Guernsey to gain a footing. The Ayrshire 

 breed, on the other hand, possessed the advantage of its nationality during 

 the early periods of Canadian colonisation, when many Scottish colonists 

 settled there, and had gained a footing in the rather cold regions of the 

 New England hills for the production of milk in a somewhat greater quan- 

 tity than that of the Jersey and Guernse}^ breeds, the qualit}^ being almost 

 equal. 



Finally, each breed possesses its clearly recognised advantages. The 

 Holstein-Friesian, as a good producer of milk and fat. has gained noteworthy 

 success in the hands of the ordinary farmer specialising in milk production. 

 Its special ability to consume large quantities of bulk}?- foods, which allows 

 of a considerable reduction in the consumption of concentrates, and its 

 qualifications for giving good results in rearing calves intended for meat 



