LECTURE XLIII. 



KERRY CATTLE. 



Their Origin, History, Development, and Points to Be Con- 

 sidered in Judging and Selecting the Same. 



The Kerry is the only native breed of Ireland. It has been 

 found there since the memory of man, and is, by general 

 characteristics, a direct descendant of the Bos longifrous, 

 which is believed to have been merely a domesticated form 

 of the founder of our bovine race the Bos primigenius. The 

 characteristics of the true Kerry in 1872, and for all time 

 previously, so far as is known, were as follows: a small, 

 neat animal; very active; fine in bone; rather long in limb; 

 a small, fine head, with lively, full eyes, full of fire and ani- 

 mation; cocked horns; color of body either black or red. 

 The animals were small live weight often not exceeding 

 450 pounds. The weight of a fat cow, a prize winner at 

 Dublin, was but 420 pounds. 



Another type of the Kerry, known as the Dexter Kerry, 

 is claimed to have arisen from the introduction of some for- 

 eign blood about 1800, but of what breed is unknown. Certain 

 it is that the Dexter Kerry differs from the true Kerry, being 

 somewhat larger, very low set with a round, plump body, 

 full and square in the hindquarters, and with short, thick 

 legs, a heavy head, and rather straight horns. The cows 

 (both Kerry and Dexter Kerry) are excellent milkers; they 

 were exhibited at the Paris Expositions in 1878 and were 

 very favorably commented on for this characteristic. Their 

 development for the past twenty-five or thirty years has been 



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