78 PEDIGREE BREEDING 



T. B. Wood shows how important a matter the loss of heat 

 from the surface of an animal's body may be in relation to the 

 return made to the feeder for provender and other nourishment 

 supplied to it. If this is so, surely the instinct of the breeders 

 who insisted upon a certain type of coat to secure the best 

 result should not be ridiculed; and in the future intelligent 

 observation which leads to a conclusion, by experience in the 

 field, that some "point" is necessary should be deemed as 

 worthy of consideration as any work done within the walls of 

 the laboratory. It should not be beneath the dignity of the man 

 of science to analyse systematically the deductions and observa- 

 tions of the practical breeder. Granted that many "points" 

 will be found to be fanciful, many requirements to rest on 

 insufficient observation, many conclusions to be based on the 

 prejudice of ignorant, though strong-minded individuals, but 

 all this simply shows the necessity of systematic, thorough and 

 large-minded research call it science or what you will. It is 

 indeed strange that England (the "Stud Farm of the World"), 

 which has in Rothamsted the world's pioneer experimental 

 station for the study of plants, manures and soils, should be 

 without any station whatever for the study of the reproduction, 

 structure and functions of farm live-stock in 1918. Rothamsted 

 was founded by Lawes and Gilbert in 1843. 



The breeding of pedigree Shorthorns was carried on through 

 the nineteenth century by innumerable enthusiasts in all parts 

 of the Old World and the New, but between 1810 and 1885 

 there are three names that stand out more prominently than 

 others as having contributed towards the triumphant increase 

 and wide distribution of the' breed. These names are Bates, 

 Booth and Cruickshank. It is interesting, and very instructive, 

 to note that all these breeders looked upon the Shorthorn as 

 a dual-purpose animal. Bates seems to have paid more attention 

 than the others to good milking qualities, but neither Booth 

 nor Cruickshank 1 ignored or neglected them. As regards the 

 ordinary stock of the country in 1908, according to the census 

 taken by the Board of Agriculture in that year, no less than 

 five-eighths of the cattle in England were of the Shorthorn type. 



1 Sinclair, loc. cit., p. 102 et seq. and p. 738. 



