108 POLLED DURHAMS. 



and that were close in type and color to pure-bred Short- 

 horns, a type was finally evolved. The plan of using pure- 

 bred Shorthorn sires was followed for five or six generations, 

 until the type so closely approached the typical Shorthorn 

 that it was deemed advisable to reserve a bull of the new 

 type, and put him to the heifers. From the nature of the 

 breeding operations, it is evident that these cattle were soon 

 very high grade Shorthorns; and the herd book requirements 

 provided for a gradual raise in the per cent, of Shorthorn 

 blood present, until in 1899 no new animals could be ad- 

 mitted to registry without proof of at least 96% per cent. 

 Shorthorn blood; and the most recent rulings made in 1902, 

 and published in 1903, require that all animals, to be eligible 

 to registry, must be in the offspring of animals recorded in 

 the Polled Durham Herd Book, or of animals, one of which 

 shall be recorded in the Polled Durham Herd Book, and the 

 other in the Shorthorn Herd Book. 



The other strain of Polled Durham, known as double stand- 

 ard, sprang from the Shorthorn cow, Oakwood Gwynne. She 

 was owned in the Hillhurst herd of Col. King of Minnesota; 

 was a light roan cow of excellent individuality, but had 

 abortive horns or scurs. When bred to pure-bred Shorthorn 

 bulls she produced two polled heifers, twins, and later a 

 polled bull, none of which showed the slightest indication 

 of horns. 



W. S. Miller of Ohio bought these cattle in the spring of 

 1888 and used the bull, King of Kine, on these cows, which 

 were half-sisters to him, and also on pure-bred Shorthorn 

 cows that possessed horns. A very high percentage of the 

 calves from the horned cows were hornless; and Nellie 

 Gwynne, one of the polled heifers, dropped to the service of 

 King of Kine the bull calf Ottawa Duke, which Mr. Miller 

 used freely on his herd. As indicative of the concentration 

 of blood represented in Ottawa Duke, it is stated all his 

 calves, even from horned cows, were hornless. The work 

 of building up such a herd was necessarily somewhat slow; 

 but the work has been successfully carried out, as the large 

 numbers of Polled Durhams now testify. 



Careful selection for a high degree of individual merit has 

 characterized the work of the best breeders. Disappoint- 

 ments were frequent; tor example, out of twenty-four calves. 

 bred by Dr. Crane, the result of two years' work, twenty- 



