CATTLE HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS. 751 



six or eight quarts for the first five months after calving, and 

 they will usually go dry for nearly or quite three months. 

 They are very docile and easily managed, and it is rare to find 

 even a bull furious or troublesome. 



While there were polled cattle brought to this country as 

 early as the latter half of the eighteenth century, there is no 

 authentic record of any importation until about the year 1850, 

 when some enterprising Scotch farmers imported some of them 

 in the vicinity of Toronto, Canada. There were probably sev- 

 eral importations about this time, for as early as 1857 " Allen " 

 speaks of seeing over forty of them exhibited at a single pro- 

 vincial fair. He says of these cattle : " They were full, round, 

 and comely in form, robust in appearance, showing a ready apti- 

 tude to take on flesh ; elastic to the touch ; having a good skin, 

 with long, thick, wavy hair ; a placid look, and were apparently 

 of kindly temper. They were mostly black, although there 

 were one or two dull reds or duns, and one brindle." 



Since the date above referred to, importations of these cattle 

 have been quite numerous, and during 1883 a single breeder in 

 Missouri imported nine hundred head of bulls and heifers for 

 distribution among the cattle-breeders of the plains. One fact 

 worthy of notice in connection with this importation is that 

 four hundred and sixty-eight of these cattle were brought over 

 at one shipment, and but one bull calf lost. Whether this re- 

 markable success was due to the superior hardiness of these 

 cattle, to the fact that they were hornless and did not injure 

 one another, to superior care on the passage, or to all these com- 

 bined, it at least shows that cattle may be imported with little 

 loss, while often the mortality in bringing them over is fearful. 



There is no doubt that polled cattle are becoming more pop- 

 ular every year, and that many of our best breeders are seri- 

 ously questioning the utility of horns, and believe that while 

 they were necessary for defense for cattle in a wild state, that 

 the time has now come when they should be dispensed with. 

 The polled cattle have already established a permanent reputa- 

 tion in this country, and they are likely to maintain a foothold 

 among the various breeds in our future beef production. 



