1910.] Development of the Dairy Shorthorn. 445 



leading breeders, the one being absorbed in the pursuit of 

 "correct" pedigree, and the other thinking only of show- 

 yard successes or breeding for beef alone. Milk was ignored 

 or sacrificed to other objects, and this went on through 

 several decades during the last century, till a deep milking 

 pedigree Shorthorn became a rarity, and it was thought quite 

 sufficient if a cow could rear her own calf. 



Effect on Common Stock, — We must now glance at the 

 effect of this treatment of the breed on the common stock of 

 the country, a very large proportion of which was of Short- 

 horn extraction. In doing so, it must be borne in mind that 

 fifty years ago only a few farmers sold new milk, and that 

 the majority of those who bred and reared calves sold them 

 as graziers at three years old, the best of the cows going to 

 town dairies. It was not particularly to their interest to 

 study milk, but rather the production of quick-growing, 

 thick-fleshed animals, such as the show-yard presented them 

 as examples. Though only a few of the ordinary farmers 

 purchased pedigree bulls, those saved for breeding purposes 

 were chosen for beef points, and most of them contained 

 some infusion of pedigree blood. Thus the rank and file 

 followed in the footsteps of the owners of pure-bred herds, 

 and milking properties suffered accordingly. Those dairy 

 farmers who did use a pedigree bull were often disgusted with 

 the result, which was generally a falling-ofT in their produce ; 

 they therefore declined to repeat the experiment, and 

 "pedigree " became a by-word with this class of farmer. 

 On the other hand, there have existed herds in Yorkshire 

 and other northern counties which were never registered, 

 but always bred on the old dairy lines, and these are now' 

 in great request and fetch long prices. These, however, are 

 the exception and not the rule amongst the general stock of 

 the country, which, it may safely be said, have, as a whole, 

 sadly deteriorated in milk production. 



Rise in the Demand for Milk. — Towards the close of the 

 century the situation changed. The improved means of 

 transit and the development of the cattle-raising industry 

 abroad led to the introduction of frozen beef, which caused 

 a heavy fall in our market prices, even before the trade had 

 assumed serious dimensions. Year by year imports increased 



