136 BREEDS OF CATTLE 



traverse the bony walls of the under part of the body cavity 

 should be large. These holes, which are often called "wells," are 

 a valuable help when examining a dry cow. 



As regards amount of yield, no cow of this breed should be 

 looked upon as good if she does not average 700 gallons a year 

 for several periods of lactation succeeding the dropping of her 

 third calf. With careful breeding a herd may, without great 

 difficulty, be got together in which the cows will average 

 700 gallons for the first six years following the first calving. It 

 must always, however, be borne in mind that this cannot be 

 expected unless a very careful milk- record is kept. This is of 

 great importance in all breeds, but with the Shorthorns it is 

 imperative, for it is quite easy to find specimens of the breed 

 very thin-fleshed indeed, yet giving no more milk than those 

 whose flesh-forming capacity has been developed to the greatest 

 possible degree. It is no exaggeration to say that it is easy to 

 breed these specimens among the best strains; their common 

 occurrence in our herds may be noted by any unprejudiced 

 observer. 



The milking qualities of the cattle can easily be kept up to 

 standard if high records to the credit of all dams used for repro- 

 duction are resolutely insisted upon; it need not again be 

 emphasized that this is even more important in the case of a 

 bull's female progenitors than of a cow's. 



The problem of systematically maintaining the inheritance 

 of beef-production on the part of the milch-cows and their 

 calves has still to be solved. In the past, selection for this 

 capacity has been left entirely to the judgment of the owner. 

 That this judgment has been remarkably good in the case of 

 individual breeders cannot be held to be evidence in favour 

 of continuing such rule-of- thumb methods ; for typical examples 

 of Shorthorn misfits bear witness in almost every market-place 

 to the folly of unsystematic breeding. 



The improvement of meat-production qualities among all 

 milking Shorthorns can and ought to be immediately taken in 

 hand, so that the fine specimens which are now unfortunately 

 the exceptions may become the rule. The weight for age, 

 the measurement necessary to secure quality, can be taken at 



