CHAPTER I\II. 

 WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD DAIRY BULL. 



The chief point of a dairy bull is a sound constitution, and having 

 descended iro n cattle possessed of sound constitutions for generations, 

 and of special dairy quality. The color of Shorthorns may be red, 

 or red and white, roan, or roan and white, although many very excel- 

 lent dairy bred bulls have been white in color. The head should be 

 long and strong, not coarse, but masculine. Neck fairly long, massive 

 on top, but fine underneath. Forequarters fine and strong, not too 

 sharp on top, so as to allow plenty of room between the forelegs. 

 This will indicate lung power. Back straight, level, and uniform, 

 loins and, hips broad. Body capacious and of good depth behind ; 

 skin loose and pliable ; ribs well sprung and running very deep be- 

 hind. Flanks very deep and flat. Hindquarters long and level, broad 

 behind, and wide between the pin bones. Thighs broad, deep, and 

 flat, clean and fine inside. Legs not too short, bone fine and flat, 

 joints well and neatly .formed. Testicles long and even and well de- 

 veloped, square underneath, and hanging perpendicular. Milk veins 

 should be clearly defined. Teats set wide apart. Escutcheon should 

 be of the best quality. Tail well set on, fairly fine, and long. 



The carriage of a dairy Durham bull, which is very important, 

 should be active, with the head somewhat lower than the shoulders. 

 The shoulder-blades should be free and open in their movements, if 

 anything a little higher than the spine. There is, however, no hard and 

 fast rules to go by in the selection of a bull for service in a dairy herd. 

 Practical experience teaches us that many of our best sires were on 

 the whole common enough looking animals, whereas some of our best 

 lookwg animals left nothing behind them worth owning. 



Take, for example, the late Mr. Evan Evans' bull " Major" and Mr. 

 Jenkins' " Theodore" as examples. These bulls, if not bred within 

 a few miles of each oher in Dapto, Illawarra and Nepean Towers, 

 Camden, were practically reared there. "Major" was a medium-sized 

 bull, with fair length of body. His color was very light roan on b'ody, 

 and patchy -dark or blue dappled roan on neck and riead. His head 

 was long and coarse ; horns fairly long, thick at base, inclined down- 

 wards at the base, and upwards and inwards at the top ; eyes full and 

 placid ; shoulder-blades high and heavy, legs fairly long with a round 

 coarse bone, body lean and >i airly deep ; hindquarters long, with fair 

 width. He was by no means a show bull, yet he soon proved himself 

 to be the very best type of bull to mate with the dairy cows of that 

 time ; and it should ever be remembered that the most enduring types 

 of this Major strain were produced from cows of the McGill strain, 

 which in turn had been produced many years before from the best 

 strains of Messrs. Terry-Hughes, Johnston, Lomax, and Osborne. 



During many years prior to 1850 Messrs. Evans and Osborne were 

 associated together in a station property at Paddy's Plains, in the 

 district of Lachlan, and used to take large drafts each of young 

 heifers from Illawarra to this station, from whence they would bring 

 them back sprinerers at from three to four years old. Bulls bred from 

 Iceley's "Comet" were as a rule most favoured for dairy herd pur- 

 poses on the Lachlan River stations in those times, although many 

 admired the bulls bred from William Lee's Bimbalingal station, in the 

 same district. 



It will be seen, therefore, that fifteen years at least prior to Mr. 

 Evan Evans becoming possessed of the services of the bull " Major" 

 he, in conjunction with those just mentioned, was possessed of valu- 



