100 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



Valuable properties of the Shorthorn. The valuable properties of the 

 Shorthorn as a meat producing animal are said to be without rival. It 

 produces the greatest quantity of beef, and that of the best quality, and 

 scales the heaviest of any of our herds. It also comes to maturity at a 

 very early age and shows the most kindly disposition to fattening. As 

 a milk producer, the Shorthorn can claim to be in the front rank, 

 though the general opinion is that it must yield the palm to the Jersey 

 and the Ayrshire. For many years past, it must be borne in mind, the 

 breeding of Shorthorns has been conducted solely with a view to the 

 production of beef, but formerly this animal was the deepest and 

 heaviest of any of the milk-producing breeds, and if for a few years it was 

 again bred for the pail, as it is now for the butcher, its superiority as a 

 milker might be regained. As a cheese producer the Shorthorn is ad- 

 mittedly the best. The Shorthorn is to be found everywhere, but its 

 home is in its native place in Yorkshire, and in the eastern counties of 

 England. It is to be found all over England, Scotland, and Ireland, 

 all over America, in Australia and New Zealand. Of all the different 

 breeds of cattle we possess, the Shorthorn has the greatest power of 

 adaptation to varying conditions of life, to changes of soil, of climate, 

 and of pasturage. It thrives nearly as well in the cold, dry northeast of 

 Scotland as in the moist and genial south of Ireland, and is equally at 

 home in the nobleman's park and upon the prairies of Texas. 



Shorthorn cross-breeds. But while it is esteemed of great value on 

 account of adaptability to all climates and soils, it has achieved won- 

 derful results through crossing with other varieties. Crossing with the 

 Shorthorn improves nearly all other breeds by imparting the properties 

 that give value to cattle, viz., size, form, quality, rapidity of growth, 

 early maturity, and aptitude to fatten at an early age. Most es- 

 pecially marked is the improved quality and consequently greater 

 value of the cross between the English Shorthorn and the- old Irish 

 cow. The marvelous result is presented in an increase of ten imperial 

 stones 7 weight of flesh in the animal, in greater size, and in the quality 

 of fattening at least a year earlier than other stock. The enormous im- 

 provement that has been effected and that is still being carried on in 

 the breeding of Irish cattle is within the knowledge of every farmer. 

 This improvement has added 'no less than twenty-five per cent, to their 

 value at a year old, and is the result of crossing with the Shorthorn 

 during tlie last and present generations. 



The Shorthorn is used in Scotland for crossing with the Ayrshire, 

 and it is said that the produce are better milkers than their mothers. 

 It also crosses with the Guernsey with great milking results. It is, 

 however, for the size, the early maturity of growth, and the aptitude 

 to fatten early and quickly that the Shorthorn imparts to other breeds 

 of cattle that is chiefly valuable. Shorthorn steers, or steers of some 

 other breed with a very large admixture of Shorthorn blood, are the 

 favorite cattle for winter and summer feeding in the northern and mid- 

 land counties of England. In some quarters the Shorthorn may not 

 find so much favor as it once did, and in certain districts other breeds 

 may be more successfully reared and fed ; but, for general purposes, 

 upon moderately good land, and in an average climate, the Shorthorn, 

 as a race of cattle, is equal to any, while it is surpassed by none. Dis- 

 tributed throughout almost every county of Great Britain and Ireland, 

 pedigree Shorthorns are now to be met with ; there are probably some GOO 

 breeders, possessing about 20,000 cows, and distributing good bulls 

 amongst the breeding herds. But breeders of first-class Shorthorns, 



