14 A. HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



will command a fair price as yearlings and 

 two-year-olds for feeding purposes and the 

 heifers possess the requisite size and quality 

 f tting them for retention in the breeding herd. 

 Hence the necessity for a combined beef-and- 

 milk-producing breed for general farm pur- 

 poses. 



It is claimed by those who support its con- 

 tentions that the .Short-horn blood produces 

 "the farmer's cow" par excellence of the world. 

 The females often reach in full flesh 1,800 Ibs. 

 in weight, occasionally making 2,000 Ibs., and 

 with good farm keep at maturity should aver- 

 age say 1,400 Ibs. in working condition. Aged 

 bulls in high flesh occasionally weigh up to 

 2,800 Ibs., but experienced breeders prefer sires 

 that average from 2,000 Ibs. to 2,400 Ibs., ex- 

 treme weights not oeing generally favored. In 

 color they are red, roan, red with white mark- 

 ings or white. In Great Britain, the home of 

 the breed, the roans predominate. This is 

 indeed the one distinctive Short-horn color, 

 never produced except by the presence of the 

 blood of this breed. In America reds have 

 been in special demand for some years past 

 purely as a matter of fancy, although the other 

 colors save perhaps the pure whites are also 

 seen in nearly every herd. Good Short-horn 

 cows should yield a fair flow of milk as well 

 as fatten readily when dry. The steers possess 



