THE UNITED KINGDOM. 189 



excellent properties, as at least 90 per cent, are Shorthorns, which per- 

 form the double duty of milking and feeding simultaneously and when 

 dry are fit for slaughter. The recent scrutinizing test which they have 

 undergone during the late competition for dairy honors at the Eoyal 

 Agricultural Society's show held at York, in July, 1883, and in the Lon- 

 don dairy show, in October last, prove their worth. At both of these 

 places the first and second prizes were triumphantly carried oil' by Short- 

 horns; and as an additional proof of the Shorthorns 7 superiority, the 

 Queen's two years and eight months old pure Shorthorn heifer eclipsed 

 all other breeds, ages, weights, and sex, and deservedly carried off the 

 much-coveted champion prize at the fat-cattle show held in London 

 December, 1883. The dairy tests were conducted on the most scientific 

 principles, and leave no doubt as to a correct decision having been arrived 

 at. I do not think that 1he most essential properties of the pure Short- 

 horns are so universally known as they ought to be. The foreign buyers, 

 whose tastes have been carefully studied, do not, as a rule, make milking 

 properties a sine qua non, but give their favor to attractive appearances, 

 and, above all, long ancestral line, without which in their eyes no ani- 

 mal is worth their notice. Now, many of our first-class breeders have 

 neglected the careful cultivation of dairy productions, and obliterated 

 them altogether in some of the purest and most valuable breeds. These 

 proceedings have had a damaging influence on the breed generally. In- 

 stances are not wanting where paper pedigrees have been held as the 

 only virtue to be studied, while nature's bountiful provisions have dis- 

 appeared. Refinement has its limits, and when pushed beyond those 

 limits degeneracy is the result, and the breed is often condemned when 

 a jury would find a true bill against the breeders. 



Forty years ago some of the highest bred Shorthorns were extraordi- 

 nary dairy cows and possessed great aptitude to fatten when dry, but, 

 though the great demand for showy animals has somewhat interfered 

 with the careful cultivation of these properties, which consequently have 

 been slightly impaired, this only exists when breeders have not ac- 

 counted dairy capabilities of sufficient interest and importance to occupy 

 their serious attention. Besides, to do so would entail an infusion of 

 new blood, which would incur the disapproval of a clique of con- 

 noisseurs, who might declare the innovation an unpardonable departure 

 from the well-defined paper line and rule system of breeding so exten- 

 sively practiced by some of our pioneers, who, unfortunately for the 

 cause, have paid too little attention to the dictates of nature. The best 

 all round general purpose cow can be selected from the old Tees water 

 Shorthorns, which are still to be found in great numbers inhabiting the 

 banks of the river Tees, in the north of Yorkshire. These are the parent 

 stock of our most refined breeds of Shorthorns, and still retains the 

 substance, constitution, and udder for which the breed has long been 

 distinguished. From this foundation, with proper selections, a superior 

 class ot animals can be raised and modeled to suit circumstances. 



The possession of so many worthy properties admirably adapt them 

 for exportntion, and I know of no other breed that I can be more confi- 

 dent in recommending to the notice of foreign buyers. The male ani- 

 mals of fehis breed are most impressive sires, and stamp their own 

 characteristics on the progeny in a marked degree, which is, perhaps, 

 more distinguished abroad than at home. 



One of our earliest improvers of the Tees water Shorthorns was 

 Charles Collings, who with his brother became a considerable farmer 

 about 1770, but Charles has the credit as an early founder of this breed. 



