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THE SHORTHORN. (i} Origin of the Shorthorn. The Shorthorn, 

 sometimes referred to as " the one cosmopolitan breed," is de- 

 scended from the old North-East ot England cattle, which were 

 known by tradition to exist in the four adjoining counties of North- 

 umberland, Durham, York and Lincoln, before it centred, with 

 Darlington as its capital, in the counties of Durham and York. 

 Between these counties flows the River Tees, and thus " Tees water " 

 was one of the early names of the breed, which was also known 

 as the " Holderness," "Yorkshire" and "Durham." After the de- 

 signation of Shorthorn had been universally adopted in Great Britain, 

 the name Durham lingered in North America, and it is still in 

 common use in France and Argentina. The traditional Shorthorn 

 possessed dual-purpose qualities of conspicuous merit, and it is be- 

 lieved to have had a crossbred ancestry as a result of mating, over 

 200 years ago, imported bulls of superior type from Holland and 

 Denmark with cows of an earlier English breed. 



Weight. The ancestral breed was longer in the limbs, heavier, 

 coarser, and slower in coming to maturity than the modern Short- 

 horn. Shorthorn cows of the flesh-producing type probably average 

 when in prime breeding form, about i 400 lb., while in full flesh 

 they run up to i 800 lb., and a few even to 2 ooo lb. Old bulls 

 when fat may scale 2 800 lb.; but a good average, and preferable, 

 weight is about 2 ooo lb. 



Early Exportation to America. For a number of years before 

 this time numerous importations of good Shorthorns had been made 

 into America, and many prices rising into four figures in dollars had 

 been realised by the importers. The first attempt at an establish- 

 ment of an American pedigree registry or herd book was locally 

 made by L. F. Allan, of Black Rock, N. Y., in 1846. The second 

 volume, extending to the whole country, appeared in 1855, atl( ^ tne 

 publication remained a private enterprise until purchased in 1883 

 by the American Shorthorn Breeders' Association. 



The highest Shorthorn prices were reached in 1873, when, at 

 New York Mills dispersal sale, five animals realised $25 ooo (5 210) 

 or above. The 8th Duchess of Geneva was knocked down at 

 $40 600 (8 460) but a misunderstanding was got over by the 



(i) See History of Shorthorn Cattle. Edited by James Sinclair, London 

 Vinton and Co, Ltd., 1907; Farm Live Stock of Great Britain, by Robert 

 Wallace, Edinburgh Oliver and Boyd, 1907; and Shorthorn Cattle, by Alvin 

 H. Sanders, Chicago Sanders Publishing Company, 1901. 



