THE RED POLLED 459 



mated. Red Polled cattle are very prepotent and will transmit 

 their red color and polled heads with much uniformity when used 

 on other breeds or grades. 



The temperament of Red Polled cattle tends to be of the ner- 

 vous sort, as might be expected of a type midway between beef 

 and dairy conformation. The disposition inclines to.be less mild 

 than with the Shorthorn, Jersey, or Holstein-Friesian, although 

 the Red Polled responds readily to kindly treatment. However, 

 the animals in average herds are less friendly and individuals 

 are more easily excited than obtains with our prominent breeds. 



The prepotency of the Red Polled is very marked. One rarely 

 sees much variation in color or character of poll in a herd of 

 pure-bred Red Polled, or if changes do occur in these two par- 

 ticulars, as a rule they may be attributed to the introduction 

 of outside blood that has broken the normal line of breeding. 

 Pure-bred bulls used in grade herds reproduce the notable breed 

 characteristics in a marked degree. The following interesting 

 evidence of Red Polled prepotency is quoted from " Bruni " in 

 77?^ Australasian, relative to the use of bulls of this breed on 

 Shorthorn, Hereford, and Aberdeen-Angus cows : 



What was my surprise on seeing the young cattle of the Hereford-Red 

 Polled cross at Warribee Park, to find the Hereford type almost obliterated. 

 The horns are gone, the frame is that of a Red Polled, and, instead of the 

 white face, there are only a few oddly shaped white blotches. But that no spot 

 of white is seen on the dark red hide, save on the face, no one looking at them 

 would suspect they had Hereford blood in their veins. 



The prolificacy of Red Polled cattle is probably above the 



average. Being naturally very hardy and active they reproduce 



readily. One will find in the records ample evidence of cows 



producing good-sized families. 5671 Lucretia 2d, on the Borden 



Stock Farm in Illinois, between 1895 and 1905, produced ten 



calves. It is reported that the cow Ai Primrose dropped her last 



calf at twenty-six years of age. Mr. J. W. Martin, the most 



experienced of American Red Polled breeders, reports 3993 



Dorothy as having dropped thirteen calves up to fifteen years of 



age, and refers to 4589 Hemithea as heavy in calf at eighteen 



years of age. While these are extreme cases, they show something 



of the producing capacity within the breed. 

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