June, 191O 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



235 



A few days old 



So far, I have considered the wants of the small farmer 

 who deals In milk or beef, but the Shorthorn may well be 

 recommended also as that all-round reliable animal, the 

 "family cow." If but one cow is kept, what could be better 

 than the creature who gives good and plentiful milk, for 

 whose calves there is a ready sale, and who is so gentle 

 that she may be kept in the horse stable and milked by a 

 man of very moderate dairy experience? She is so hardy 

 that she will require few of the "modern conveniences" de- 

 manded by some breeds, and if the fence around the pas- 

 ture is of medium height, she can be depended upon not 

 to jump the restraint in a fit of nerves or depression. 



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A young heifer, promising to be one ol the rnilkers, and of the best 

 Shorthorn conformation; mark her long, level back 



Nobody now disputes the advantage of pure-bred stock. 

 If they have plenty of fresh air, and are not confined too 

 closely, they are just as hardy as the scrub, while the largest 

 milk yield, and the largest beef production, is always from 

 pure-bred or high-grade cows and steers. The most prac- 

 tical way for a farmer to improve a herd of native or 

 scrub cattle is by breeding them to a pure-bred bull. If a 

 vigorous, well-bred Shorthorn male be selected, his progeny 

 will invariably carry his long, level back, short legs and 

 beef characteristics; and, if he descends from a milking 

 strain, his daughters will show marked improvement in 

 dairy qualities. Especially if the cows are wanting in size, 

 he is a source of immediate improvement. After a genera- 

 tion or two, the Shorthorn grade heifer is practically as 

 good as the registered pure-bred. 



We are now alive to the necessity of improving our stock, 



and the future promises conditions radically different from 

 those which have obtained in recent years. The fairy- 

 lands of the West, where everything was produced with 

 seemingly no effort, are rapidly becoming a thing of the 

 past. The eastern farmer, after a long period of 

 struggle, can look forward to coming into his own. It will 

 be only poetic justice if the breeding of the Shorthorn 

 should go on apace, for beef-raising in America had its 

 origin in the Shorthorn, then called the Durham, more 

 than one hundred years ago. At first, in the East and in 

 Kentucky, the breed extended rapidly. When the growth 

 of the western herds made it impossible to produce beef 

 at a profit. Eastern farmers turned to other breeds, not 

 recognizing the value of the Shorthorn for the very pur- 

 poses they sought. But the widespread interest in Short- 

 horns to-day, and the steadily increasing prices paid for 

 cows, apparently indicate their appreciation throughout the 



A few weeks old 



land, and suggest that the highest hopes of Shorthorn 

 breeders are founded upon reality. 



As food values are being studied by government experts 

 with rich results; as the care of milch cows is receiving ex- 

 tensive attention in reference to their housing, particularly 

 during the hour of milking, for the purpose of securing 

 cleanliness and safety from infection; and as tuberculosis 

 is being closely watched by veterinary specialists and scien- 

 tific bodies, we see no reason why our Shorthorns should 

 ever fail to hold their own in any farming district. 



The mother of Naarden barm herd. She has given more than /,000 



pounds of milk annually. She still milks more than 5,000 



pounds at twelve years of age 



