.. 



Milking Shorthorns in particular, carry a strong infusion of the 

 blood of cattle owned by Mr. Bates at Kirklevington. 



Shorthorns were first brought to America about one hundred 

 years ago and the greater part of the first importations came 

 from herds bred similarly to the Bates and were therefore genu- 

 ine dual-purpose cattle, good milkers as well as great beef cattle. 

 No other breed is so immeasurably connected with the early his- 

 tory of improved agriculture in this country. The good dairy cow 

 of the eastern states, the prime grass fed bullocks from Kentucky 

 and Ohio were early demonstration of the ability of the Short- 

 horn to produce both beef and milk abundantly and they were 

 the pioneers in the improvement of range cattle and the elimina- 

 tion of the scrub. 



For about fifteen years centering about 1870 the Shorthorn 

 breed suffered both in this country and in England from a spec- 

 ulative boom in pedigrees and many good cattle were injured 

 through the enhanced valuation put on particular lines of breed- 

 ing rather than on individual merit, however the breed in general 

 was not seriously affected by these practices and the disadvan- 

 tages that grew out of the speculative boom were more than off- 

 set later by the attention given to evolving the modern early 

 maturing beef type to meet the competition of the other beef 

 breeds. Foremost in perfecting this splendid beef type was 

 Amos Cruickshank, a Scottish farmer, and this sort of stock has 

 proven the most popular beef type in the world, noted where 

 ever good cattle are bred and raised. For the modern beef 

 Shorthorn can be claimed outstanding quality, early maturity, 

 greater weight for age and better milkers than are usually found 

 in the other strictly beef breeds. 



While the Shorthorn breed has always been noted for great 

 milking cows the history of Milking Shorthorns as such begins 

 in this country and in England about the year 1890. In the early 

 days there was scarcely a herd of note that did not posess cows 

 of exceptional capacity as dairy producers. There are numerous 

 instances of good milk and butter yields being recorded but the 

 pedigree craze of the 70s, the evolving of the strictly beef type 

 and perhaps most important of all the opening of the range and 



