272 CATTLB. 



The North American continent, from the Atlantic on the east to the 

 Pacific on the west, and from the great lakes on the north to the Gulf 

 of Mexico on the south, with its vast low-lands, prairies, and mountain 

 regions, furnishes a diversified climate, each section fitted for some 

 breed of cattle, with characteristics specially suited for its climate. 



The various soils and elevations of America furnish choice foods, and 

 to be successful in cattle raising it is only necessary to choose varieties 

 of cattle best adapted to the positions they are to occupy, and the uses 

 demanded of them. In selecting a herd for profit, there is to be consid- 

 ered, whether beef, butter, cheese, or milk is to be the production, and 

 then to select from the various herds that are best adapted for the de- 

 sired product, that variety that will do best in the climate and on 

 the kind of food the easiest and cheapest to produce. 



The Short-Horns. It is asserted by historians that the Danes in- 

 troduced cattle into Northumbria, Durham, and York, the north-eastern 

 counties of England, long before William the Norman conquered the 

 Heptarchy. Southern Denmark, Jutland, and Holstein, possessed a 

 breed of cattle, that the Danes shipped to England in exchange for 

 other products raised on the Isle of Great Britain. It is supposed by 

 the majority of writers on earl}' English agriculture and cattle, that the 

 short-horns are descendants of the cattle so introduced, and that 

 for several centuries they inhabited only the most eastern part of 

 England. 



In the agricultural progress of the country, these cattle received much 

 attention, and they improved much in form, flesh, and general appear- 

 ance. The animals were coarse in form and flesh, but they possessed 

 great aptitude to fatten, and within their high, broad carcasses were ele- 

 ments that caused them to improve when brought under careful man- 

 agement and given shelter, and good food. 



These animals had improved by the year 1740, so that a Mr. Mill- 

 bank, of Barningham, dressed a five year old ox that weighed two 

 thousand one hundred pounds in the four quarters, and had besides, two 

 hundred twenty-four pounds of rough tallow; and a cow of the same 

 stock, which weighed fifteen hundred forty pounds. These weights are 

 recorded and it will be noticed that they nearly equal those of the pres- 

 ent time. 



The improvement of the English short-horn has gone on, mitil now, 

 as a producer of beef, they stand in the front ranks of all the bovine 

 races in Great Britain, and also in portions of the adjacent continent, 



