THE SHORTHORN 



187 



American Shorthorn herdbooks. The colors of 10,000 head 

 registered between 1859 and 1903, distributed over the entire 

 period, shows the following distribution : red, 4943, red and 

 white, 2748 ; roan, 2034 ; and white, 275. This record involved 

 7000 bulls and 3000 cows. During the period of forty-four 

 years the percentage of red increased, while the other colors 

 relatively decreased. In the past some sections have been con- 

 sidered as favoring certain colors, as for example, Kentucky the 

 red. In the stock yards the roan has been long regarded with 

 favor as a prime feeder and killer. 



In quality the Shorthorn ranks very high. The mellowness 

 and elasticity of skin and fineness of hair and bone are character- 

 istics indelibly stamped 

 on the breed. 



The Shorthorn as a 

 butcher's beast ranks in 

 the first class. All of the 

 really great British breed- 

 ers had in mind the im- 

 portance of the Shorthorn 

 as a beef producer, and 

 Cruickshank gave this 

 feature special distinction. 

 In the leading fat stock 

 shows of Great Britain and America, Shorthorn steers far out- 

 number any other breed, while in the stock yards Shorthorn 

 grades largely predominate. The Shorthorn produces a high- 

 class beef, and has the strong loin and hind-quarter development 

 associated with profitable production. If compared with the 

 Aberdeen Angus, the Shorthorn will not dress out quite as high 

 a percentage of meat to offal, though the difference is not large ; 

 also the dressed carcass of the Shorthorn will show somewhat more 

 tallow and external patches of fat than will the Angus. In the 

 records of feeding experiments with different breeds given by 

 Professor W. A. Henry, twenty-six Shorthorns fed at five different 

 experiment stations averaged 15 10 pounds at loii days, gained 

 a daily average of 1.50 pounds from birth, and showed an average 

 dressed weight of 64.4 per cent. At the 1905 International Live 



Fig. 73. A Shorthorn cow in the herd of 

 Queen Victoria at Windsor in 1900. Photo- 

 graph by the author 



