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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLV 



In regard to color coats in cattle hybrids, I can give you a few cases 

 from my own experience. 



We had three Holstein cows at home, two of them carrying a pre- 

 dominance of black, the other a predominance of white. As we had no 

 Holstein bull on three successive years, they were bred to Shorthorn 



blue gray. This calf was from the cow with the greatest amount of 

 black. The others showed the pattern markings of their mothers. The 

 second year they were bred to a deep red Shorthorn bull (all of the 



whatsoever of the Shorthorn parentage. The third year they were bred 

 to a red and white bull. In the case of the lightest Holstein cow there 

 seemed to be some tinge of red on the ends of the hair in the black 

 pattern; however, at a distance it showed the same color. 



I have seen Jersey-Holstein crosses usually partaking of the Hol- 

 stein pattern with, perhaps, a slight admixture of dun color on the 

 tips of the hair on the black markings. 



I have seen Angus crossed on Jersey showing simply the black 

 polled character, although in a few cases the extremities showed a slight 

 tendency towards dun or fawn. 



I have seen Angus crossed with Holstein and have seen both pure 

 black and black-and-white cows. The instances which I have in mind 

 are about twenty showing pure black and six or seven showing the 

 black-and-white. However, these figures are simply a question of mem- 

 ory and might easily be modified. The case in question is that of a 

 man with a Holstein herd who was forced to breed to an Angus bull 

 one year. 



Out at the dairy farm we have a Shorthorn cow, roan in color but a 

 grade, which was bred to our Holstein bull, a half brother of Colanta 

 4th's Johanna. The calf is roan in color. 



We also have some Arkansas backwoods cows; they are variegated 

 in color pattern, showing red, dun, yellow, white, brindle and various 

 other markings. A Holstein bull when bred to one of these produced 

 a nearly pure black heifer. The black seemed to be rather tinged with 

 brown at the ends of the hair, but the udder showed a white color. . . . 

 A roan Shorthorn bull bred to a Hereford cow will quite frequently 

 give a roan body with white Hereford markings. A red Shorthorn bull 

 crossed with the Hereford cow is apt to increase the red splotches on 

 the white markings of the Hereford. 



Mr. P. G. Boss, of the famous Maxwalton Farm, Mans- 

 field, O., relates his experience, throwing his observations 

 into approximate percentages, as follows : 



The color of the offspring of white Shorthorns depends largely on the 

 ancestors, as about 50 per cent, of a bull's calves will have the color of 



