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32 THE dairyman's MANUAL. 



of the progenitors. Unfortunately, the contrary is the 

 case, and all the bad qualities are more likely to be per- 

 petuated. Trying to improve the native race within 

 itself is usually unsatisfactory and a slow process, the 

 better way being to select the best of the cows and cross 

 them with a well-chosen pure bred bull of a suitable 

 kind, either for milk, cheese, or butter. It is a matter 

 of considerable importance for the dairyman to select 

 the right breed for his purpose. 



The Shorthorn Breed is, perhaps, the most valu- 

 able of all those used in dairying. If there is any one 

 breed which may claim to be the most suitable for gen- 

 eral purposes, as for milk, cheese and butter, and beef, 

 w^hen no longer profitable for these, it is the Shorthorn. 

 Half-bred or grade Shorthorn cows are more largely 

 kept for milk dairies and for cheese making than any 

 others, because they are good milkers and fatten quickly 

 when dry, and then make good beeves, usually bringing 

 for slaughter as much as, or more than, the original cost. 

 This breed originated in the north of England about 

 one hundred years ago, and was then noted for the excel- 

 lence of its cows ; the best of them producing as much 

 as twenty-four pounds of butter per week and forty 

 quarts of milk daily. It is claimed that the breed came 

 first from Denmark, Holland, and the north of France, 

 where it laid the foundation of the highly productive 

 herds of various races in those localities. At the present 

 time, however, with the exception of a few families 

 noted for productiveness of milk and butter, this breed 

 has greatly deteriorated in this respect, having been bred 

 for beef, and the milking character having been neg- 

 lected. The engraving, figure 2, gives an excellent 

 and accurate portrait of a cow of this breed, which 

 won the champion prize for the best yield of milk 

 two years in succession at the English Dairy Farmers' 

 Association. She is not sufficiently pure bred for entry 



