BREEDS OF CATTLE 13 



country have become adapted to these conditions and are 

 not so well suited to rough scanty pastures as the Brown 

 Swi^s, or the Ayrshires which have been produced on poor 

 pastures. On the continent of Europe the breeds and sub- 

 bm ds are almost innumerable. They have chiefly originated 

 in the manner mentioned. In Great Britain alone ten or 

 twc ve distinct breeds have developed. Up to about the 

 middle of the eighteenth century these natural influences 

 were the chief factors in the development of breeds. About 

 tha time, largely as the result of the work of Robert Blake- 

 well, a great interest was aroused in England in improving 

 cati le. 



The beginning of modern breeds may be traced largely to 

 this great movement. The methods used were careful selec- 

 tior , more liberal feeding, and good management. In some 

 case s, as with the Shorthorns and the Ayrshires, crossbreeding 

 and inbreeding were at first practiced. At the present 

 time most cattle breeders direct their efforts towards further 

 improvement in the breeds already in existence and not 

 towards the establishment of new breeds. 



15. Definition of Terms. Scrub and native are terms used 

 to indicate that an animal does not carry more than a small 

 amount of the blood of an improved breed. 



Grade. This term, generally used with some breed name, 

 as Grade-Hoist ein, means that the animal has one-half or 

 usually more of the blood of the improved breed. When 

 the proportion of improved blood is high, the animal is 

 called a " high grade." 



Crossbred indicates that the animal is the offspring of pure- 

 bred parents of distinct breeds. 



Pure-bred. This term is properly applied to cattle whose 

 ancestors came from the native home of the breed and con- 



