548 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



potent bulls, barren cows not able to bring forth even a pedigree, weak- 

 ened constitution, diminished size, but greater fineness of bone and that 

 "thoroughbred look" that to many eyes compensated for the absence 

 of the best marks of the earlier race and the plebian families. A pam- 

 pered life, incestuous breeding, and a disregard of the true idea of de- 

 velopment, brought the inevitable result of such a method. Though, 

 fortunately, while the inherited weakness of the "royal family" kept 

 its numbers small, the scarcity kept the prices up, and therefore in two 

 ways prevented the average breeder from the folly of buying a pedigree 

 with a bull " thrown in," and allowed him to go on with the develop- 

 ment of his " plain " bred cattle, according to common sense and yet 

 truly scientific principles. I judge the evil, however, to have been less 

 in Canada than in the United States, for the Canadian farmers, in a 

 certain sense, had inherited the Shorthorn idea, and have not swerved 

 from it in any material degree. They had a natural eye for a * k beef 

 critter," and that, together perhaps with the inability to pay $30,000 

 for a six-months' heifer, kept them in the more legitimate paths of im- 

 provement. During all this time it is to be observed that the Short- 

 horn, among all other beef breeds, was "facile primus." If then, as 

 now, other breeds of cattle had been pushing the Shorthorn to the wall 

 and making that race fight for its honors, ifc is safe to say that the 

 breeders of this magnificent race of cattle would have been saved from 

 the folly of attempting to ennoble a single family by false and unscien- 

 tific methods at the expense of the rest of the race. The danger from 

 this cause is now, fortunately, passed, probably never to return, for the 

 other beef breeds the Herefords, the Aberdeens, and the Galloways 

 are pressing the Shorthorn so hard for their honors that the breeders 

 of the latter animal have no time to waste in looking for a better rule 

 of breeding than " the selection of the fittest." The Shorthorns were 

 among the first pure-bred animals to be introduced into the province, 

 and they have held their predominance in numbers to the present time. 

 Professor Brown, of the Ontario Agricultural College, to whom I am 

 largely indebted for the materials for this report, says there are three 

 hundred and fifty herds of pure-bred cattle of all classes in the province 

 of Ontario, and of the total number of pure-bred bulls nine-tenths, and 

 of the total number of pure-bred cows six-sevenths, are Shorthorns. 

 The preponderance of this breed may also be seen from the fact that at 

 the fat stock show held in this city December 14 and 15, 1883, there 

 was no animals shown except Shorthorns and their grades. The earliest 

 herds to be established in this province were those of Messrs. F. W. 

 Stone, John Suell & Sons, James J. Wright, James Cowan, and William 

 Douglass during the years 1853, ? 54, '55, since which time Shorthorn 

 herds have become widely extended, the principal ones being in the 

 counties of Wellington, Brant, Middlesex, Waterloo, Ontario, Perth, 

 York, Oxford, Bothwell, Simcoe, Huron, and Bruce. As a race of cat- 

 tle the Shorthorns are generally admitted to be superior for stall-feeding 

 purposes, maturing early and taking on flesh Qvenly and rapidly. I 

 have given at the close of this report some figures bearing upon this 

 subject derived from the fat stock show, to which reference has already 

 been made. I was present at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, last 

 September, when there was a large display of Shorthorn cattle of all 

 ages and representing a wide extent of the province. It was a very 

 creditable display indeed, and one that would have been difficult to ex- 

 cel anywhere. But while equally good animals could probably be 

 found in the United States I am of th e opinion that the prices hero are 

 considerably lower than with us. I quote at considerable length the 



