CAT1%E 1473 



rent incomplete part at birth was the epidermis of the feet which grew ra- 

 pidly during the first few days of the foal's life. This authoritative case 

 considerably reduces the 287 days previoush' recorded as the minimum 

 period of gestation for a mare. 



iot)3 - Origin of the Brazilian Breed of Cattle " Caracu ". — romao j. j. in n Criador 



Paiilistn, nth ytar, No. 7, pp. 179-184, 11 fig. Sao Paulo, 'ixly, 1916. 



The " Caracu " breed was founded by the great-grandfather of the 

 writer, Joaquim Bernardes de Costa Junquiera at Rio Verde (Minas Ge- 

 raes) by crossing the cattle named " Junqueiros " in the State of Miflas, 

 " Franqueiros " in the vState of Sao Paulo, and " Colonia " in that of Bahia, 

 with the cattle " Curraleiro ". At that time the " Junqueiro " and the 

 " Curraleiro " constituted two distinct types. The breed " Junqueiro " 

 was descended from the Portuguese " Alentejana " imported from Portugal 

 into the southern part of the State of Minas, where it developed much more 

 than in the countrA' of its origin. The " Curraleiro " breed is of Spanish 

 origin, the first examples imported into Matto Grosso and to Goyaz came 

 from Uruguay and the Argentine. The cattle " Caracu " has been inbred 

 and selected by three generations of cattle-breeders. It has been brought 

 to a very high degree of perfection and constitutes to-day a constant and well 

 defined type. According to the writer it would be expedient to breed 

 it pure instead of crossing it with the zebu, as is almost universally done 

 in the State of Minas Gereaes, for the offspring of the cross is much less sa- 

 tisfactory than the pure " Caracu ". 



1094- The Ration and Age of First Calving as Factors Influencing the Growth and 



Eairy Qualities of Cows. — Kckles C. M. in University of Missouri College of a .ricul- 

 ture Experiment Sta'ton, Bulletin Xo. 133. Columbia, Missouri, September, 1915. 



This investigation was made to obtain data on two points (i) the in- 

 fluence of liberal as compared with light rations during the growing period, 

 (2) the influence of the age at first calving. It was desired to ascertain more 

 definitely the relation of these factors to the dairy qualities of the cow. 

 The data obtained were also expected to have an important bearing on the 

 relation of these factors to dairy type, rate of growth, age at maturity and 

 date of sexual maturity. 



A list of questions relating to these was sent to the most important 

 breeders of dairy cows. Three hundred answers were received and have 

 been tabulated. These indicate a wide range of opinion as regards such 

 points as the relation of age at first calving to type, milking qualities and 

 size, the effect of heavy grain feeding during the period of growth upon 

 size, milking qualities and type. 



The ex])eriments lasted eight years and were made with forty pure- 

 bred cows of the Jersey, Holstein and Ayrshire breeds. Complete records 

 of the food they consumed and their development as shown by skeleton mea- 

 surements and the weight, were kept from birth to maturity. The milk 

 production was recorded for each cow during two or more periods of lacta- 

 tion. 



The forty cows were divided into two principal groups. The first was 



