CHAPTER 2 



BREEDS OF CATTLE 



C. H. ECKLES 

 ORIGIN OF BREEDS 



13. Origin of Domesticated Cattle. No cattle are native 

 to America. All those found in both North and South 

 America are descended from cattle brought from Europe 

 and are the descendants of wild cattle that formerly lived 

 in Europe and Asia. It is not known where or by whom 

 cattle were first domesticated as it occurred in prehistoric 

 times. It is generally believed that there were two original 

 forms of wild cattle, the one somewhat smaller than the 

 Jersey, the other probably larger than any cattle that live 

 to-day and in type something like the long-horned cattle 

 formerly raised on the ranges of South America and in 

 Texas. 



14. Origin of Breeds. The differences between these 

 two wild types account in part for the differences between 

 breeds of cattle, such for instance as the extreme difference 

 in type between the Jersey and the Holstein, or between 

 the long-horned cattle found in Texas and the Angus or 

 the Shorthorns. 



Other factors in the formation of breeds are climate, food, 

 and nature of the surroundings. For example, the cattle of 

 Holland as a result of living for generations in a rich level 



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