CHAPTER VII 

 THE BREEDS OF CATTLE 



There are in America seventeen or more distinct pure breeds 

 of cattle and many grades and crosses of each breed. The great 

 mass presents similar general qualities, but groups and in- 

 dividuals differ in vital detail with respect to degree of useful- 

 ness for any particular purpose. Some are blocky with broad 

 backs and are known as beef breeds, while others are more 

 angular in form and thinner over the shoulders, and are known 

 as dairy animals, yet there is no cow so strongly bred for beef 

 that she will not give some milk, which milk may be and occa- 

 sionally is drawn by hand and turned into dairy channels. All 

 the breeds of pronounced beef-type cattle yield milk consid- 

 erably above the average in fat content. There is no cow, on 

 the other hand, so intensely bred for milk production but that 

 she does develop a body which may be and regularly is used for 

 human food when she is past usefulness in the dairy. It is a 

 matter of common knowledge and record that even the " common 

 to fair " cows sell for beef at from $40 to $60 regularly on 

 the open market. This is fully one-half the price per pound 

 paid for good, well-finished beef steers, while a steer from one 

 of the admitted dairy breeds, such as Holstein, Ayrshire, or 

 Guernsey, is cut in price only one-half to one cent per pound 

 from that paid for good, beef-bred cattle. The loss in beefing 

 the male calves of dairy cows is therefore not a total, but a 

 fractional one and amounts to only 7 to 15 per cent of the amount 

 paid for top-notch cattle. 



That many of the heavy breeds, such as Red Polls, Brown 

 Swiss and Shorthorns, will yield more freely than has for years 

 been required of them, has been well demonstrated within the 

 last few years. 



The meat- and the milk-producing ability of the great mass 

 of cattle in this country may well be represented by figure 15. 



A glance at the diagram emphasizes the fact that " beef " 



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