FERTILITY 107 



years of age. A Clydesdale mare belonging to G. W. 

 Henry of Burlington, Iowa, was the mother of nine- 

 teen foals and was supposed to be in foal again. 1 Poca- 

 hontas, a running mare, was the mother of fifteen foals 

 and dropped her last at the time she was twenty-five 

 years of age. 



106. Unusual fertility among cattle. Some remark- 

 able cases of fecundity among cattle have been recorded. 

 In most cases the ability to ripen a number of eggs dur- 

 ing one period of heat seems to be inherent. A cow that 

 has produced twins or triplets is very apt to do so again. 

 This tendency to multiple gestation in cattle is well 

 illustrated by a family of cattle on a New Hampshire 

 farm reported by Wentworth. 2 " The foundress of the 

 family was a grade Holstein cow, herself a twin, about 

 seven years old. She has been on the farm ever since 

 she was dropped and has given birth to seven calves. 

 Her first service was to a Guernsey bull and resulted in a 

 pair of yellow and white heifers, one of which is now in 

 the herd. Her second mating to a red Shorthorn bull 

 resulted in a single black and white bull calf that was 

 vealed. An Ayrshire bull sired her third calves, twin 

 black and white bulls, but neither of these was good 

 enough to raise. Her fourth service was to a Holstein 

 bull and from it she produced twin black and white heifers 

 that promise well as milkers." 



" The yellow and white twin first produced by the 

 old cow is now four years old and has twice borne twins. 

 To an Ayrshire bull she produced a pair of yellow and 

 white bull calves that early went to the butcher and to a 



1 Sanders, "Horse Breeding," p. 179. 



2 Wentworth, E. N., " Twins in Three Generations," Breeder's 

 Gazette, vol. 62, p. 133. 



