CHAPTER III 

 DAIRY CATTLE AND THE DAIRY FARM 



Origin of Domesticated Cattle. The dairy industry of the United 

 States is immensely important. A vast amount of capital is invested 

 therein; to it the choicest of agricultural lands are devoted and from it 

 an army of men get employment, but the gains that it offers are not easy. 

 To reap them requires training and skill of a high order backed by ex- 

 perience. The questions that assail the dairy farmer are many; they 

 begin with the cow herself. 



The origin of domesticated cattle has not been certainly determined 

 but two wild species namely Bos primigenius and Bos longifrons seem 

 to have been particularly important in their evolution. The former is 

 known to us by old paintings that are believed to represent the animal 

 and by skeletons. It persisted until the early part of the seventeenth 

 century in the regions of the upper Duna and Dnieper Rivers and in 

 the Carpathian Mountains. It was 6 to 7 ft. at the withers and 10 to 

 12 ft. long and was characterized by a long narrow head. 



Bos longifrons is believed to be derived from Asiatic species, probably 

 Bos sondaicus. It seems to be identical with the marsh cow of the Lake 

 Dwellers and its earliest and most typical forms are found on the northern 

 shores of the Mediterranean, the Alpine region and the Atlantic coast 

 of western Europe. It was smaller than Bos primigenius with shorter 

 horns, face and forehead. 



Keller derives the European cattle from two distinct races, thus : 



1. Those of Bos primigenius ancestry. They are characterized by 

 a long narrow head and include the English Park cattle, the North 

 German, Lowland, Dutch, Steppe, Simmenthal and Freiburg spotted 

 breeds. 



2. Those of Bos sondaicus ancestry. They are characterized by a 

 broad short head and include the Albanian, Polish, Hornless Fjell and 

 Brown Swiss breeds as well as the Channel Island and English cattle 

 except the Longhorn and Scotch Highland, but the Shorthorn, Ayrshire 

 and some others, early received an admixture of Bos primigenius blood. 



Introduction of Cattle into America. Cattle are not native to 

 America. The first were brought over by Columbus on his second voyage 

 in 1493. Later, settlers from Spain brought cattle to the West India 

 Islands whence they were carried to the mainland both north and south 

 of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1525 cattle were carried to Vera Cruz 



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