l66 RED-POLLED CATTLE. 



(J. C. Murray, of Maquoketa, Iowa, secretary) was organized, and two 

 volumes of the Herd Book have already appeared. The first importation 

 was made in 1873 by G. F. Taber, Patterson, N. Y. , since which time 

 many have been brought in, and more bred, until we have in the United 

 States at present writing some 1,800 or 1,900 head. 



DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERISTICS. 



Color a deep rich red, with only the brush of the tail white, oc- 

 casionally white on the udder in cows, but this, while not regarded as an 

 absolute disqualification, is not favored. Size above medium, mature 

 bulls weighing from 1,700 to 2,100 Ibs. , and cows from 1,100 to 1,400 

 Ibs. The head is neat, with a tuft of hair curling over the narrow frontal 

 points, and a light-colored, clear-cut muzzle. The neck is clean and 

 fine, with little dewlap ; ribs springing not broadly arched, but filling 

 the demand for rounded outline of barrel ; legs clean, fine and short. 

 In the cow the udder should be large, but not meaty ; when empty 

 it should hang in creases or folds ; milk veins should be prominent, and 

 knotted or puffed. 



It must be confessed that most of the modern breeders of Red-Polls 

 have been too intent on securing size and beauty of contour to preserve, 

 as carefully as they should, the really valuable dairy qualities of the 

 breed. If a change be not made in this direction, we shall soon be com- 

 pelled to say of them, as we might now say of the Shorthorns, that they 

 were originally excellent dairy stock, but have been greatly injured by 

 the pernicious custom of feeding high for the show ring. 



Red-Polls are, in general appearance, hornless Devons (see also 

 illustrations), and they are bred and advertised as general purpose cattle. 

 They are claimed, and we think fairly, to be the rivals of the Shorthorns 

 for general use in the western United States. As to their adaptability in 

 the fever belt of the South, we cannot speak to a certainty, from the 

 fact of there having been so few importations to this region. They are 

 quiet, good feeders, easy to handle and ship, and as all must admit at- 

 tractive in color and form. If the Red-Polls are carefully bred, we may 

 expect to see them grow rapidly in public favor, and secure on their 

 merits high rank as a combined milk and beef breed. 



In view of the present increase of the practice of dehorning, we may 

 be pardoned for saying, that among the bulls of the established polled 

 breeds now in America the advocates of surgical dehorning will cer- 

 tainly find more formidable rivals than have hitherto appeared in print. 



