44 



A Bull, to be eligible to compete in classes towards which the 

 Association contributes all or part of the prize money must be 

 entered in Coates's Herd Book and his dam and his sire's dam must 

 have received the Association's prizes or certificates of merit as 

 explained above, or else they must have had a yearly milk record 

 above certain standards. In the case of cows four years old and 

 over, the minimum is 8,000 Ibs. and in the case of cows imdei 

 foty: years 6,000 Ibs. of milk per annum. The ages of cows are 

 calculated to September 30th, this being the date on which the 

 annual records close. 



Perhaps of even greater importance and value is the keeping of 

 milk records. This is carried on under the inspection of the 

 Association and the results are recorded in the Year Book. In the 

 following table are given the average results of the last four years, 

 October 1st, 1907, to September 30th, 1911. In most cases the 

 milk is weighed daily, but in some, bi-weekly or weekly. The 

 records are kept all the year round and date from year to year, so 

 that no allowance is made for abnormally short or long periods of 

 lactation. The proportion of such is, however, very small and the 

 figures may be assumed to apply to normal animals calving at about 

 the same time each year. In making the averages, all animals have 

 been included about which sufficiently complete information is 

 eiven, and it goes without saying that all are entered or are eligible 

 for entry in Coates's Herd Book. 



Milk Records Pedigree Dairy Shorthorns, 1907-1911. 



THE NON-PEDIGREE SHORTHORN. 



An account of the Shorthorn would be incomplete without 

 reference to the practically pure, but non-pedigree, Shorthorn cattle 

 bred in great numbers in most parts of the country, but, particularly 

 in the North of England and Cheshire, and adjoining districts. 

 These cattle are in most cases descended from the old cattle of 

 the North East of England to which all Shorthorns owe their 

 origin. Generally, pedigree bulls are, and have been, used in the 

 herds, and the cattle are of practically the same breeding as the 

 modern pedigree Shorthorn. An important difference is, that 

 while many breeders of pedigree cattle have neglected milk 

 production, these commercial cattle have always been selected for 

 the two qualities heavy milk production in the milking period and 

 beef production in the bullocks and " dry " cows. 



