THE BEEF BREEDS OF CATTLE 21 5 



Major Henry E. Alvord, in Farmers' Bulletin No. 106, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, gives some per- 

 formances of Shorthorn herds and individuals as follows : 

 " Records of several dairy herds in the United States, 

 within a. quarter of a century, show a milking season of 

 about 275 days and an average product of 6500 pounds of 

 milk. One herd of ten cows, three to twelve years old, 

 averaged 7750 pounds in a year. Single cows have 

 averaged much more, several instances being known of 

 10,000 to 12,000 pounds in a season. The Shorthorn 

 milk is of good quality, rather above the average; the 

 fat globules are of medium and fairly uniform size, so that 

 cream separates easily; it is rather pale in color. In 

 1824, a cow near Philadelphia made over twenty pounds 

 of butter in a week without special feeding. Herds of 

 forty cows have averaged 209 pounds of butter in a year ; 

 the herd of ten cows mentioned above averaged 325 

 pounds, and single cows have records of 400 pounds and 

 over, one being of 513 pounds." 



245. Use for butter and cheese. The Shorthorns 

 made a very creditable showing in the butter tests 

 against the dairy breeds, the Jerseys and Guernseys, at 

 the World's Columbia Exposition at Chicago, in 1893. 

 In the ninety-day butter test, the best Shorthorn cow, 

 Nora, produced 3679.8 pounds of milk, from which was 

 made 160.57 pounds of butter, and during the period she 

 gained 115 pounds in weight. The best Jersey, Brown 

 Bessie, produced 3634 pounds of milk, from which was 

 made 216.66 pounds of butter, and gained 81 pounds. 

 In this test the showing made by the Shorthorn was 

 very good, considering the fact that not nearly so much 

 care and money were spent in selecting the herd as was 

 done with the Jerseys and Guernseys. 



