65 



stnallness of bone in relation to the abundance of muscle and fat constitutes a 

 point of peculiar excellency. On the contrary, who has ever heard of large yields 

 of milk from the breeds of heavy bone and sinew, the Texans, Hungarian or 

 Steppe, the native White cattle of England, or the more modern Longhorned 

 breed ? 



Then as to the hair. Does the full yield of milk and butter coincide with 

 the great development or more active growth of the hair ? The milking breeds 

 which I have named are remarkable for the fineness of the hair, and the thinness, 

 softness and pliancy of the skin, which is another structure almost entirely made 

 up of gelatine. Again, the period of the rapid growth of hair is in autumn, and 

 that of its greatest length in winter, but the largest and best yield of milk and 

 butter is in spring and summer, when the cow has just come in, when the feed is 

 best, the weather wannest, and the growth of hair least- Obviously the effect of 

 the growth of hair on the blood, and the yield of milk, is of no account, if indeed 

 the excess of hair is not absolutely detrimental. 



As if to exclude the idea that the horns can have any favorable influence on 

 the secretion of milk or butter, it is notorious that all, or nearly all, the long- 

 horned breeds of cattle are poor dairy cattle. Among the domesticated cattle in 

 America, the Texan stands out as a prominent example. While the horns aie 

 large enough to have given rise to the hyperbole of " packing the steer in his 

 own horns," the milking, like the fatting qualities, are at the lowest ebb, and the 

 useless brute is rapidly giving place to those breeds that prove profitable for beef 

 and milk. His ancestor, the old Spanish ox, has precisely the same characteris- 

 tics, though living on the other side of the globe. The Algerian, Hungarian and 

 Podolian cattle all show this qualit}^ of horns of enormous length, and none of 

 them yield milk in excess of what is needed for the calf. The ancient cattle of 

 the British Isles, the white cattle of Cb.illingb.am, the black Scotch Highland 

 cattle, and the longhorned Irish and English cattle, are alike remarkable for 

 development of horn, and paucity and poverty of milk. Among the mote modern 

 breeds, the English Hereford stands out as a splendid beef animal with magni- 

 ficent horns, but a small yield of poor milk. It may be objected that all these 

 excepting the English Longhorns and Herefords, are unimproved breeds, and 

 that a heavy milk and butter yield is not to be expected of them. The answer 

 is ready : In spite of or by reason of this neglect, they have developed most 

 extensive and artistic horns, and if the development of horns has any effect in 

 increasing the yield of milk and butter, this selection and survival of the horns 

 should have preserved at least a fair yield of milk. But the exact opposite has 

 been the result. Among cattle with somewhat shorter horns, there are some 

 fair milking breeds. I may name the Devons, the Pembroke, the black Welsh 

 and the Kerry. The last is indeed an admirable milker considering its size, and 

 the others, though not heavy, milkers, yield in the main milk rich in butter. 



Coming now to the breeds furnished with short horns we meet with those 

 that are pre-eminently the best milkers. Of these the Ayrshires, the Shorthorns 

 and the Holsteins need only to be named. All have been long famed as milking 

 breeds, and though to-day many of the most improved Shorthorns have appar- 

 ently lost the quality of milking, it has not been because of any shortening of 

 the horns, but because of feeding exclusively for fat, which has led to fatty de- 

 generation of the muscle as well as of the udder. The Shorthorn was originally 

 and may still be made a splendid dairy cow. The main prerequisites are to feed 

 upon products that contain no excess of fat, starch or sugar, and to furnish all 

 food in an aqueous condition. Among the cattle with short horns have still to be 

 named the Flemish and Norman, the latter of which was once called the best 

 milk cow in the world, the Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey and Swiss, all animals 



5 (D.C.) 



