460 CATTLE 



Groups and tribes of Red Polled cattle gradually developed 

 from the various lines of breeding. The first volume of the herd- 

 book classes the united breed into twenty-five groups of foundation 

 stock, each indicated by a letter of the alphabet, as A, B, C, etc., 

 these including numerous tribes or families. The first volume 

 gave 233 tribes, and later these increased to 385, but at present 

 only about 200 tribes are represented in the registration. While 

 the group will remain the same in letter the tribes naturally vary 

 in number. The method has an advantage in studying pedigrees, 

 for with it the group and tribe relationship is shown. The groups 

 made up certain foundation herds. For example, the A group 

 comprises the cows in the Elmham herd or owned by tenants of 

 the estate of that name ; the B group, the cows in the Biddell 

 herds and others in the vicinity ; etc. Thus Ai refers to a founda- 

 tion cow in the Elmham herd named Primrose ; Bio, to a cow in 

 the Manfred Biddell herd named Bury ; etc. Differing from other 

 cattle associations, the registration number of the cow precedes 

 the name (as, 421 Primrose Ai), while the number of the bull 

 follows his name in the customary manner. None of the above 

 groups trace far back of the first volume of the herdbook, some 

 being comparatively recent. 



Important tribes of Red Polled cattle. The factor that has 

 played the largest part in giving distinction to a tribe of this breed 

 has been milk production. This especially applies to the United 

 States. The following may be regarded as the more notable 

 tribes : Mayflower, descended from 2965 Mayflower, by Mason 

 698 ; Dorothy, descended from 3993 Dorothy, by Falstaff 303 ; 

 Pear, descended from 12789 Plum, by Didlington Dandy 2683 ; 

 Popsey, descended from 9689 Popsey 3d, by Red Shirt 2014; 

 Princess, descended from 2146 Davy Princess, by Davyson 

 ;th 476. 



Red Polled sires of note are not found in considerable number 

 in the American history of the breed, and some through shrewd 

 advertising have been given more credit than the records justify. 

 An important reason why this list is short is that until compar- 

 atively recently but little effort has been made to conduct official 

 milk or butter-fat tests. Further, there are but few well-known 

 herds that have been in continuous operation for many years. 



