COLOR INHERITANCE IN CATTLE 



Experiments with Dutch Belted Cattle When Purebred and Crossed with Dutch 



Pied Cattle Peculiar Numerical Relation Between Belted, Self-Colored 



and Pied Calves Produced 



K. KuiPER, D.Sc. 

 Ilavehe, Holland 



SINCE Dr. Sewall Wright included 

 in his series of excellent papers on 

 "Color Inheritance in Mammals" 

 (Journal of Heredity, 1917-18) an ex- 

 position of his views relative to cattle, 

 Mr. R. Houwink, of Meppel, and some 

 other breeders of Belted Cattle , in 

 Holland have proceeded to make some 

 experiments, the results of which can- 

 not fail to interest the American reader. 

 I will, therefore, set forth the essential 

 features of these experiments, a more 

 detailed description and analysis hav- 

 ing been published in the Dutch 

 periodical Genetica, 1920. II. 



As the reader will remember, the 

 explanation of the phenomena of hered- 

 ity in cattle is made somewhat difficult 

 by the fact that the genetic behavior 

 of apparently similar characteristics is 

 often different in different breeds. 

 Characters which are dominant in one 

 breed appear to be recessive in an- 

 other. White may be dominant in 

 Chillingham Cattle and recessive in 

 Pembroke and Highland Cattle, but 

 the heterozygous state may also be 

 distinctly intermediate, e.g., in the 

 roans of the .Shorthorns. Again, the 

 factors producing the piebald pattern 

 have not the same effect. The white 

 face seems to dominate always over the 

 lilack. Piebald cows when crossed 

 with self-ct^lored ones mostly produce 

 intermediate piebald calves. (Mr. 

 Kiesel's experiments with Limburger 

 Fleckvieh.) At the same time the 

 question is still being discussed whether 

 the detennining factors are independ- 

 ent or "polygamic" (Wilson). The 

 former view appears to be the most 

 plausible. 



F.XPHRIMENTS WITH BELTED CATTLE 



(FIG. 1) 



The experiments may be di\ iikd 



into two groups: (a). Pure breeding 

 (b). Crossing w^ith other Dutch Breeds. 



(a). Experience in breeding Dutch 

 Belted Cattle shows that the calves 

 born are not always belted but some- 

 times self-colored. In this case they 

 are mostly coal-black, but occasionally 

 when both parents are heterozygotes 

 as regards black hair, plain red calves 

 were produced. In the pure breeding 

 of red belted cattle, too, some cases are 

 positively known in which self-colored 

 calves, in the present instance natur- 

 ally red, were produced. The phenom- 

 enon seems to decrease as belted cattle 

 are bred true for a greater length of 

 time. It is only after the infusion of 

 fresh blood that self-colored calves 

 occasionally make their appearance 

 again. 



In 1918 Mr. Houwink at Meppel 

 obtained one black calf and four 

 belted ones from five belted cows, bred 

 to the same belted bull (See Fig. 4). 

 Mr. Jochems at Wassenaar (near The 

 Hague), obtained 45 calves from such 

 matings (between 1912 and 1918) of 

 which si.x were self-colored, one of 

 these being red. 



Another phenomenon in pure breed- 

 ing that requires our attention is the 

 frequent production of poorly marked 

 calves. I shall refer to this presently 

 in analyzing the facts. 



EXPERIMENTS IX CROS.SBREEDIXG 



(b). The most important results as 

 regards the crossing of Belted and Pied 

 Cattle was obtained in 1918-1919 when 

 rather more than 60 heifers were bred 

 to a belted bull belonging to Mr. 

 Houwink. (Figs. 3 and 5.) All of 

 these heifers were piejjald. Most of 

 them were black with more or less 

 white; but there were six red and 

 white and one white-faced cow with 



I02 



