1910.] Development of the Dairy Shorthorn. 447 



pedigree, which had retained their ancient character for deep 

 milking. To secure bulls from these, farmers would go 

 long distances to such markets as Chester and Preston, to 

 which batches would be sent from Yorkshire and adjoining 

 counties. 



During several years the subject was ventilated by dis- 

 cussion, but the first object-lesson was given by the British 

 Dairy Farmers' Association, who demonstrated that the 

 pure-bred Shorthorn still possessed deep-milking properties, 

 latent in most cases, but only awaiting skilful breeding and 

 treatment to bring them to the front, and the work of Messrs. 

 Tisdall, Carrington, and Edwards in connection with this 

 matter, at the earlier London Dairy Shows, had a far-reaching 

 effect, and will not soon be forgotten. 



A very great step in advance was taken, when, after much 

 persistent advocacy by Mr. Richard Stratton and others, 

 the Shorthorn Society commenced in 1901 to give 

 prizes for milking Shorthorns, although in so doing no 

 definite aim was claimed. The movement served the great 

 purpose of setting certain breeders to think, and in 1905 

 they formed a new society, called the "Dairy Shorthorn 

 (Coates's Herd Book) Association." Very wisely the 

 founders of this body refrained from starting a separate 

 Herd Book, which would have served no good object, but 

 might have had the effect of splitting the Shorthorn 

 interest into two distinct sections. Their object was not to 

 introduce a cleavage in the Shorthorn ranks, but to restore 

 the reputation of the breed as general purpose cattle, and 

 incidentally to meet the growing national demand for milk. 



The measures adopted by the Association were, and are 

 still, chiefly confined to the offering of premiums at the 

 various shows, with certain stipulations. Amongst these 

 were the selection of special judges, and the fixing of a 

 minimum for the yield of milk as given in the show-ring, 

 in order to entitle a cow to take a prize. 



The Association inculcates and encourages the keeping of 

 careful records by its members. This is an onerous but 

 necessary task, because, without a regular system of 

 weighing and registering the yield at every milking, a herd 

 can never attain its maximum value. The record is now 



