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NOTES,  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  REVIEWS. 
The  Dual  Purpose  Cow  at  Liverpool. — The  Britisher’s  love 
of  sport  has  encouraged  the  production  of  a type  of  horse 
which,  though,  owing  to  his  being  able  to  gallop,  jump,  and 
stay,  he  is  called  a hunter,  yet  is  of  no  definite  breed.  No  one 
who  knows  England  questions  the  prominent  part  played  by 
this  wonderful  animal  in  our  national  country  life.  Visitors 
to  the  “ Royal  ” at  Livei-pool  could  see  an  animal  which,  though 
of  the  bovine  race,  owes  its  origin  to  a similar  instinct.  The 
north  countryman’s  love  of  sport,  combined  with  his  keen 
business  spirit,  has  led  him  to  create  a dual  purpose  cow,  with 
which  he  both  satisfies  his  desire  for  a sporting  competition 
and  is  able  to  put  by  an  honest  penny. 
The  prizes  given  by  the  Liverpool  and  District  Cowkeepers’ 
Association  brought  out,  in  the  class  for  dairy  cows  “ over 
11  cwt.  live  weight,”  over  a dozen  animals  weighing  from 
11  to  15  cwt.  which,  as  combined  milk  and  beef  producei’s, 
might  probably  be  matched  successfully  against  any  other, 
pedigree  or  non-pedigree,  cows  in  the  world.  Any  attentive 
listener  at  the  ring  side  would  have  quickly  learned  what  an 
intense  interest  the  hardy  northern  farmer  and  his  friends  take 
in  these  wonderful  beasts.  To  a whole  section  of  this  com- 
munity the  points  and  performances  of  the  various  animals 
competing  were  the  subjects  of  enthusiastic  discussion  ; the 
awards  of  the  judges  being  talked  over  and  criticised  in  the 
manner  of  the  true  connoisseur. 
Throughout  the  western  half  of  northern  England  agricul- 
tural societies  are  both  numerous  and  prosperous,  and  very 
many  of  them  look  to  the  classes  for  dairy  cows  as  their  chief 
draw.  It  is  disappointing  after  seeing  what  is  done  in  the 
north-west  to  note  how  little  support  is  given  to  such  classes 
in  the  south-east  of  England.  The  animals  that  have  been 
referred  to  as  arousing  such  intei’est  have  a three-fold  duty 
to  perform.  For  the  first  few  years  of  their  lives  they  have 
to  grow  large  and  to  reproduce  themselves.  The  male  progeny 
are  steered  and  are  well  and  favoui’ably  known  over  all  the 
“ feeding  ” parts  of  England  as  “ north  countx’y  stores.” 
During  this  time,  which  genex-ally  lasts  till  the  advent  of 
the  fourth  and  sometimes  till  that  of  the  sixth  calf,  the  dual 
pui’pose  animal  is  truly  a “dairy”  cow.  For,  to  pay  for  her 
keep  while  she  is  growing  lai’ge  enough  for  her  future  duties, 
her  milk  is  skimmed  or  separated,  the  cream  being  made  into 
butter  and  the  “ skim  ” milk,  often  after  “ scalding,”  is  used  to 
