104 DAIRY CATTLE AND MILK PRODUCTION 



POLLED DURHAMS 



This breed originated in Ohio, and has the distinction of 

 having been developed in America. In reality they are 

 Polled Shorthorns, since Shorthorn blood was used almost 

 exclusively in their development. A portion of the Polled 

 Durhams are pure-bred Shorthorns that are descended from 

 natural polled animals, and this character was fixed by proper 

 selection and breeding. These are now known as double- 

 standard animals. The other branch was formed by breed- 

 ing the " native " or " muley " cows to pure-bred Shorthorn 

 bulls. Most of the Polled Durhams are descended from herds 

 formed in this way. They are found most numerously in 

 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and other Central and Middle Western 

 states at the present time. 



The American Polled Durham Breeders' Association was 

 formed in 1889, and the first volume of the herd book was pub- 

 lished in 1894. To be eligible to entry in the herd book the 

 animals must carry at least 96J per cent Shorthorn blood 

 and have the color markings and general conformation of the 

 Shorthorn and be entirely without horns. Some animals of 

 this breed are now registered in both the Shorthorn Herd 

 Book and the American Polled Durham Herd Book. 



The breeders have given considerable attention to the de- 

 velopment of the milking qualities, and as a breed, they excel 

 the Shorthorn in this respect. The description given of the 

 conformation, size, and characteristics of the Shorthorns will 

 answer for a description of this breed, as they are essentially 

 alike, except that the Polled Durham is hornless. The horn- 

 less feature has won popularity for this breed. A number of 

 animals of this breed have been exported into South America 

 and other countries. 



