ioo EVOLUTION OF BRITISH CATTLE 



recrossing was that some calves were pure black, 

 others were masquerading blacks, and others 

 were pure red. The red colour is not admired 

 by Kerry breeders, and no attempt has been 

 made to keep it ; but, because of the difficulty 

 of identifying and, so, eliminating them, when 

 masquerading blacks are mated together, red 

 calves are occasionally born. If these red 

 calves were kept and bred from, the Kerry 

 black breed could eventually be converted into 

 a red breed. By doing this, the Highland 

 breed of cattle has been changed from one 

 that once was largely black to one that is now 

 largely red. 



But the Kerry breed is of further interest 

 because, while the Devons transmitted to it their 

 red colour inpotentia, they also transmitted their 

 shortness of leg. In this case shortness was 

 dominant to length. The result of the crossing 

 was that some calves were pure short-legged, 

 others were masquerading as short-legged, and 

 others were long-legged. Thus among each of 

 the three different colours of Kerry cattle 

 pure blacks, masquerading blacks, and reds 

 there are pure short-legged animals, masquerading 

 short-legged animals, and long-legged animals. 

 That is to say, among Kerry cattle now, as 

 compared with Kerry cattle long ago, there are 

 some possessing characters, redness and short- 

 leggedness, which have been transmitted to them 



