58 



between the two counties of Norfolk and Suffolk ; and, at the 

 Royal Agricultural Society's Show in London in 1862 the breed 

 was first publicly recognised as the " Norfolk and Suffolk Red 

 Polled " ; twenty years later the name was shortened to " Red 

 Polled," which in 1909 was further abbreviated to " Red Poll." 



The breed has been immensely indebted to the Herd Book, 

 compiled by Henry F. Euren and the Rev. George Gilbert, the 

 first volume of which appeared in 1874. A special feature is the 

 system of " group letters and numbers which tell at a glance from 

 what foundation cow of a certain herd or district every animal in 

 the Herd Book has descended on the dam's side." 



Appearance. The characteristic colour is deep blood red, though 

 the tip of the tail and the udder of the cow may be white. Any exten- 

 sion of white in front of the udder is objected to, and in the case of the 

 bull the only white part should be that on the tip of the tail. The 

 presence of horns or sours is deemed a disqualification. The nose 

 should be a clear white ; cloudiness or darkness is regarded with 

 disfavour and a black or blue nose disqualifies the animal. 



Milk Records. The Red Polled Society of Great Britain and 

 Ireland was formed in 1888. Its regulations, formulated in 1899, 

 recognise the dual-purpose qualities of the breed, and provide for 

 the keeping of complete milk-records of all the cows in a herd and 

 for the judging of both milking qualitv and general appearance. 



The milk records of different herds are published in the Herd 

 Book, and the following table summarises the results of the past 

 five years, January 1, 1907, to December 31, 1911. In taking the 

 averages all cows have been included with regard to which com- 

 plete information is available, and except that incomplete periods 

 of less than 210 days have been omitted, no allowance has been made 

 for abnormally short or long periods of lactation. The number of such 

 is not, however, sufficient to seriously affect the average, which may 

 be taken to apply to normal cows calving at about the same time 

 each year. 



Milk Records, 1907-1911. 



Beef Production. Steers put up to finish at about two years old, 

 when they have stopped rapid growth, fatten quickly, and theii 

 carcases command satisfactory prices in the London market. Th< 

 merits of Red Polls as medium-sized dual-purpose cattle, and 

 particularly their reliability as milk producers have led to their bein^ 

 exported in considerable numbers to practically all the Colonies ai 



