CHAPTER VI 



DUAL-PURPOSE CATTLE 



ALL cows give milk and all oxen yield flesh, but the interference 

 of domestication has led to certain varieties of cattle being suit- 

 able only for the dairyman and others only for the butcher. 

 England, it would seem, demands an animal perfect in both 

 respects perhaps (even without reckoning draught, which 

 Bother countries demand) we should say in three respects. For, 

 as well as yielding a good flow of milk and providing, after 

 feeding, a fine carcase for the butcher, a cow may also drop a 

 calf that will make a very useful carcase of veal; though, if the 

 same type of male offspring be allowed to grow on as steers, 

 it does not follow that they make prime carcases of beef. If 

 fleshing of good quality is to be found on the offspring, it must 

 also be a feature of the parents, but many cows will themselves 

 feed decently, at the proper time, whose calves make good 

 veal, yet whose steers often fail in quality, or rapidity of 

 growth, or both. 



So perhaps the term "Dual-purpose" is somewhat too 

 restricted. On the other hand it is doubtful whether it is possible 

 to breed what might be called a "general-utility" animal. For 

 there is yet another important product. Some cows give a milk 

 so rich in fat as to be particularly well-suited for butter-making. 

 The average deep-milking cow will give a milk whose butter-fat 

 content is between 3 and 4 per cent, or, in some breeds, even less. 

 Other breeds will easily average between 4 and 5 per cent, of 

 butter-fat, if their milk is systematically analysed. Experience 

 shows that all breeds of cows whose milk is exceptionally rich 

 and plentiful seem to be of very poor meat-producing capacity. 

 It might be possible to establish a breed that would be perfect 

 for milk, butter, beef and veal, but for the moment we could be 

 satisfied with quantity of milk, beef and veal. Unfortunately the 

 animal that combines these good qualities (which for want of 

 a better name we call a "Dual-purpose" animal) is very much 



