70 



Value for Milk Production. lu general outline the Kerry cow 

 conforms to the true milking type. She possesses a well-shaped 

 and capacious udder and is a milk producer of no common order, 

 apart from her capacity to live and do better than animals of most 

 of the other breeds on inferior food. In the records of the London 

 Dairy Show it may be seen that in one year eight Kerries averaged 

 daily 36 Ib. of milk yielding 3^ per cent, of butter fat ; in another 

 year, twelve gave 25% Ib. of milk, with 4^ per cent, of fat ; and a 

 third lot gave :i3 Ib. of milk and 3'69 per cent, of fat. The general 

 average of milk throughout has been^ over 3 gallons daily, while in 

 three different years the milk of 32 cows yielded 4^ per cent, of 

 fat. A Kerry cow in breeding form should not weigh more than 

 900 Ib. ; a bull not more than 1,000 Ib. live weight. 



Dexter Cattle. Dexters are either whole-black or whole-red ; 

 much more compact, substantial, lower and more squarely 

 set animals than the Kerry. The leg bones are much shorter 

 and stronger ; the neck thicker and shorter ; the horns heavier, 

 longer and straighter, and not so gaily carried or so refined as in 

 the original Kerry. 



Origin of the Dexter. The origin of the Dexter is not known. 

 Tradition suggests that the breed was either introduced by a 

 breeder named Dexter, or that it was an offshoot of a diminutive, 

 deep-bodied, old Irish cow with short legs and a heavy bag, from 

 the neighbourhood of Cork and Limerick, mated with a small 

 Kerry bull. Professor Wilson suggests that the Dexter is the 

 result of crossing imported Devon cattle with the Kerry. 



Registration of the Breeds. Both breeds have been in high favour 

 at shows. Their common interests are safeguarded in Ireland by 

 the Kerry and Dexter Herd Book Society (founded 1890) and in 

 Great Britain by the English Kerry and Dexter Cattle Society 

 (founded 1892). The registration of the two is separate, and a 

 cross between the Kerry and Dexter is considered a half-breed and 

 cannot be entered. 



A difficulty in breeding Dexters pure is that occasionally they 

 do not breed true to type, and furthermore they are apt to produce 

 calves so misshapen as to be either born dead or to have to be 

 destroyed. 



Value of Crossing. Both Kerries and Dexters cross well with other 

 breeds, whether beef-producing or milking. The Dexter-Shorthorn 

 cross is a remarkable butchers' animal on short legs, with immense 

 breadth and substance. The unique breed of Dexter-Shortborns 

 at Straffan, Co. Kildare, was formed by the use of pedigree 

 Shorthorn bulls during a period of 35 years on one Dexter heifer 

 and her female progeny by the said bulls, and after that time, by 

 mating the male and female progeny. The diminutive size and 

 superior milking powers of the Dexter were then permanently 

 blended with Shorthorn colour, form, and beef-producing qualities, 

 although the amount of Dexter blood present after a lapse of 

 40 years must have been almost a negligible quantity. The cross 

 with the Aberdeen-Angus bull ranks quite as high as a butchers' 

 beast. Both crosses are always prominent in the leading Fat 

 Stock Shows. 



