PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



backed meaty calves. This quality of being able to 

 transmit to the offspring the beef qualities for which 

 selection has been made, convinced breeders that selected 

 stock was purer in its inheritance than unselected and 

 the term purebred was adopted for such animals. This 

 does not mean that the animals are absolutely pure for 

 such traits and will transmit no others, but it does mean 

 that they will do so with infinitely greater regularity 

 than the unselected kind. No strain of cattle at present 

 exists that cannot be made to breed more uniformly than 

 it does now, but the average purebred animal breeds so 

 much more uniformly than his grade and scrub rivals 

 that his worth cannot be gainsaid. The cattle raiser 

 who uses purebred bulls over a period of years invariably 

 has more uniform and cheaper finishing steers than the 

 man who uses bulls of mixed bloods. 



Pure breeds of beef cattle arose 

 How the through the selection of animals 



Purebred slightly superior to the stock of the 



Developed surrounding districts with respect to 



beef production. The first improver 

 of beef cattle was an Englishman, a resident of Leicester- 

 shire, named Robert Bakewell. He worked with the old 

 Longhorn stock of central England, and being a skilled 

 anatomist was able to appreciate the means whereby 

 changes in external form would affect the carcass. He 

 selected for increased thickness of loin, rib and quarter, 

 for more rapid fattening qualities, and for early maturity. 

 By mating together related animals he fixed these traits 

 so strongly that his cattle became known all over England, 

 while his sheep which he improved by similar methods, 

 were so well known that George Washington imported 

 rams of Bakewell breeding for use on his Mt. Vernon 

 estates. From a careful study of Bakewell's methods 

 the Colling brothers, the Booth and the Bates families 

 established Shorthorn cattle, and a few years later the 

 Tompkins, Prices and Hewers founded the Herefords. 



Page Twelve 



