Shorthorns  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
69 
with  the  object  of  producing  a bull-calf  for  a sire.  Forty  or 
fifty  years  ago  the  cattle  of  this  part  of  the  country  would  not 
have  weighed  more  than  from  3^  cwts.  to  4£  cwts.  when  fully 
matured.  Now  they  mature  nearly  a year  sooner,  and  weigh 
about  a third  more.  Mr.  H.  Smith,  whose  valuable  herd  at 
Castlebrock  has  rendered  great  service  to  the  country,  states 
that  he  has  frequently  seen  wonderfully  good  animals  bred  from 
plain  old  Irish  cows  and  Shorthorn  bulls  ; some,  in  fact,  that 
would  almost  pass  for  pedigreed  animals,  and  that  would  sell 
either  fat  or  in-calf  for  at  least  6/.  more  than  the  dam. 
In  the  fairs  in  the  counties  of  Meath  and  West  Meath,  the 
Shorthorn  element  has  been  pretty  strong  for  a good  many  years. 
Since  about  1860  the  progress  in  this  part  of  the  country  has 
been  most  marked.  An  improvement  has  taken  place  in  all 
the  features  that  add  value  to  cattle,  notably  so  in  form  and 
quality,  rate  of  growth,  and  tendency  to  fatten.  From  all 
sorts  of  cows  the  Shorthorn  bulls  have  raised  improved  stock, 
and  now  there  are  few  of  the  real  old  Irish  mixed-bred  cattle  in 
these  counties.  At  Mr.  R.  ReynelPs  farm,  Clondrisse,  Killucan, 
there  are  at  present  some  animals  that  afford  an  interesting 
illustration  of  the  excellent  results  realised  by  the  crossing  of 
the  Shorthorn  bull  with  Kerry  cows.  A good  specimen  of  the 
Dexter  variety  of  the  Kerry  race,  a thick,  short-legged,  little 
cow,  has  produced  three  calves — each  by  a pure-bred  Shorthorn 
bull.  All  the  three  are,  for  butchers’  purposes,  far  superior  to  the 
dam.  They  would  at  maturity  be  worth,  perhaps,  from  25  to 
30  per  cent,  more  than  the  cow.  As  evidence  in  favour  of  a 
well-supported  theory  in  breeding,  it  is  interesting  and  curious 
to  note  the  graduated  departure  of  the  three  successive  calves 
irom  the  type  of  the  mother.  The  characteristic  features  of  the 
Kerry  are  less  marked  in  the  second  calf  than  in  the  first,  while 
in  the  third  they  are  more  faint  still. 
Throughout  the  north  of  Ireland  there  is  great  variety  in  the 
character  of  the  stock,  the  progress  of  improvement  having  been 
very  slow  in  some  districts  as  compared  with  others.  Before  the 
introduction  of  Shorthorns  the  cattle  stock  over  the  north  gene- 
rally was  of  the  very  worst  description  ; of  mixed  breeding, 
small  in  size,  badly  formed,  thin  in  flesh,  and  not  arriving  at 
maturity  until  five  or  six  years  of  age,  and  inferior  to  the  cattle 
of  the  south  in  milking  properties.  In  several  districts  there  is 
still  great  need  lor  improvement,  but  in  the  better  farmed  parts 
ol  all  the  northern  counties  the  cattle  reared  are  for  the  most 
part  fairly  good  Shorthorn  crosses.  In  every  fair  throughout 
the  north  young  cattle  are  to  be  found  approaching  nearly  to  the 
Shorthorn  type,  and  worth  at  least  50  per  cent,  more  than  unim- 
proved stock.  Prior  to  1860  the  work  of  improvement  was 
