92 POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE 



the most profitable group will not be the one in which the indi- 

 vidual animals are the highest yielders. It is quite conceivable 

 that investigation might show that a type of cow yielding a 

 moderately large quantity of milk, when supplied with a 

 moderate amount of food, is more profitable than the very deep 

 milker requiring much more food. On the other hand the 

 reverse may be the truth. In short, there is so much dispute 

 on this point and other matters connected with it amongst those 

 experienced in the management of our English milking herds 

 that it seems certain that systematic and thorough research is 

 required to elucidate the truth. 



Beef-production is second only to milk-yield as an essential 

 quality of the beast that is to be an important factor in the high 

 farming of the future; it is little, if any, exaggeration to say that 

 as regards dual-purpose cattle our exact knowledge in this 

 respect is nil. Some years ago I wrote an article on the subject 1 

 and the trouble involved in collecting a few isolated facts showed 

 how complete was the neglect of systematic work on the subject. 

 It was only by gathering together at great pains the threads of 

 scattered information accidentally recorded that one could get 

 the evidence with which to show the sceptical what was a. 

 matter of common knowledge to some, namely the possibility 

 of combining the faculties of beef-production and of high milk- 

 yield in the same animal. As to the profitable combination of 

 the best beef-production and the highest milk-yield in the same 

 animal so as to obtain the highest return for food consumed, we 

 have no reliable evidence about British cattle at all. Yet there 

 can be few matters of greater importance connected with 

 extensive and economical human food-production; for on the 

 vast majority of our farms the fertility which enables bread and 

 other food to be won in great quantity from the land will always 

 be dependent upon a supply of farmyard manure. The cattle, 

 therefore, which will give the greatest return for their own food 

 will be invaluable in keeping up the production of the whole 

 farm by supplying cheaply the basis of all that fertility which 

 leads to increased production. So far, our agricultural com- 



1 "Breeding Milch Cattle and the production of Store-Stock," The 

 Journal of the R.A.S.E. 1908, p. 79. 



