JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 22 , 1883 . ] 
but will doubtless be recognised in the future as first-class cattle 
under the cognomen of Red-polls. 
In consequence of the recent progress which has been made in 
the improvement of this breed, many persons have hardly been 
prepared for the information we can supply relating to the 
antiquity and history of the breed. We are indebted to the Editor 
of the “ Red Polled Herd Book,” Mr. H. T. Euren, for much valu¬ 
able information relating to their origin and progress. He says, 
“ The history of the red polled cattle can be carried back well 
into the last century. Suffolk had from time immemorial its 
breed of polled cattle producing butter which, 150 years ago, was 
asserted to be ‘justly esteemed the pleasantest and best in 
England.’ ” Arthur Young, in his “ Survey ” (A.D. 1794), defines 
the area—“A tract of country twenty miles by twelve . . . . 
the seat of the dairies of Suffolk ”—which, he said, must be 
peculiarly considered the head-quarters of the Suffolk polled stock, 
though he found them spread over the whole county. In this 
“ Survey ” we get the first accurate description of the breed. 
Though Arthur Young makes no note of Norfolk polled cattle, 
yet advertisements of sales held in and from the year 1778 prove 
that dairies of such animals were numerous in the county, and 
that they extended from the northern boundary of the Suffolk 
“ head-quarters ” well into the centre of Norfolk. An old Elmham 
tenant, who survived till 1872, recollected red polled cattle on the 
estate so long ago as the year 1780. At Shipdham they were 
greatly valued from a date equally early. The predominant breed 
in Norfolk at that time (see Marshall’s “ Rural Economy of 
Norfolk”—notes written from 1780 to 1782) was, however, “a 
Herefordshire breed in miniature,” and “ the favourite colour a 
blood-red, with a white or mottled face.” He says there are 
several instances of the Norfolk breed being crossed with Suffolk 
bulls, and that the result was “ increase of size and an improve¬ 
ment of form.” This would show that in a remote way this cross 
may have had its effect on the Suffolk breed. But therejs another 
statement which shows that about the year 1808, at a time when 
the rage for Devons was at its height on the Holkham estate, a 
new kind of breed made its appearance, partaking of the best 
qualities of the Suffolk and Devon or Norfolk red, the mixture 
of the two varieties by some of the animals having been intro¬ 
duced into Suffolk for crossing with the red cows there, aDd its 
effect to some extent has continued until the present time. 
Another cross was tried some fifty years ago by Mr. Moseley of 
Glemham, Suffolk. He used a Scotch bull for one generation, 
and then reverted to the original Suffolk breed, with but doubtful 
benefit. This we can understand, for it is admitted all round that 
the Suffolk reds, although they approach so nearly in shape and 
make to the black polled Scotch, yet they far exceed them in the 
milking capacity. Colour, too, should always be recognised as 
important. Any breed, although it is frequently ignored by 
amateurs, yet we find at one period in a few districts that red and 
white brindled and a yellowish cream colour had been accepted 
as representing good milkers. Again, in Norfolk we find that 
some cases sheeted polls were preferred. The fashion, however, 
during the last forty years has continued steadily in one direction 
in favour of the red, which is now exclusively regarded as the 
mark of excellence, especially the deep rich blood-red. 
The amalgamation of the two varieties, Norfolk polled and 
Suffolk polled, may with certainty be traced from the year 1846. 
About this period the two counties met in honourable competition 
in the show yard at local exhibitions, but just twenty years ago 
the Royal Agicultural Society opened classes for Norfolk and 
Suffolk red polled cattle. The breed now having its “ Herd Book ” 
may henceforth be properly known as the red polled breed. A 
description of them was required and agreed upon by the breeders 
in the autumn of 1873, after Mr. H. T. Euren’s proposal to 
establish a “Herd Book” of the breed ; the particulars are, how¬ 
247 
ever, too lengthy for the space we have at command. The con¬ 
ditions of registry were not made too strict. Personal inspection, 
however, of the herds by the editor of the “Herd Book,” and his 
inquiry into the breeding and antecedents of the cattle were in 
most instances resorted to. The first record up to 1877 consisted 
of 119 bulls and 554 cows and heifers, whose owners accepted the 
conditions of registry. It was by an excellent arrangement that 
each group was distinguished by a letter of the alphabet. Thus 
(to name the more prominent groups), A marks all cattle descended 
from red polls of the Elmham selection ; B, those of the Biddell 
selection, and so on. 
The red polls are said to have made great progress in America 
lately, and are much approved, for they have the advantage of 
being hornless, and therefore more harmless, no little gain where 
horses also are fed in the same pastures, or where the cattle sent to 
market make a long railway journey. 
This breed of cattle, although really good milkers, still make 
heavy weights as beef, yet yield a superior quality of flesh, and 
in consequence are much sought for by the butchers, who are 
willing to pay for them the top price per stone. It is recorded 
that the live weight of a three-year-old steer of the Biddell strain 
shown in 1876 was 25 cwt. 2 qrs., its girth nearly 9 feet. Mr. 
A. Taylor’s red polled steer, first-prize at Smithfield Club Show 
in 1881 (aged three years seven months; sire, Norfolk ; dam, 
Suffolk) had a recorded live weight of 17 cwt. 1 qr. 1 lb. Its dead 
weight was 91 stone 6 lbs. (14 lbs. to the stone), being the high 
per-centage of 66-74 of the live weight, whereas 62 per cent, is a 
high average for the best Christmas cattle. 
Milk and cream as tests of this breed are very favourable for the 
size of the cows and the nature of the pasturage. Mr. Gooderham, 
Monenden, one of whose cows, Wild Rose of Kilburn (vi.), which 
was first prizewinner as a yearling at the Royal meeting of 1879, 
brought her first calf when not quite two years old ; and eight 
weeks after dropping her third calf she gave thirty pints of milk 
per day on winter feed, and her average of butter was 9 lbs. per 
week all the year round, and she never goes dry. This latter 
quality of never losing their milk is of immense importance, for 
not only does it add greatly to the annual product of milk, but it 
is almost an insurance against puerperal fever at calving time, 
the great fatality of which in high-conditioned herds is proverbial 
with almost every breed of full pedigree stock. Mr. Gooderham, 
to whom we have just alluded, has recently read a paper of great 
value at the Framlingham Farmers’ Club in Suffolk on “ Breeding, 
Rearing, and Fattening of Cattle,” and with special reference to 
the management of his own herd of red polls. He says—“ I 
would express my belief that no heifer ought to be grazed until 
she has had one calf ; for this reason—you would then have the 
opportunity of ascertaining which are likely to make the best 
milkers, and, besides, heifers of that kind pay best to fat. For 
example, a barren heifer fat at two and a half years old will do 
well to weigh 50 stone (14 lbs.), and make £25 ; but supposing 
she has a calf at two years old, and you do not think she will 
make a good milker, graze her and her calf, and at three years 
old she and her calf will weigh—viz., the heifer will weigh from 
44 to 46 stone, and will make from £20 to £23 ; her calf will 
weigh 36 to 40 stone, and make from £18 to £20. Thus a heifer 
and her calf will pay 10$. per week for the last year’s keep, being 
quite as much as a milch cow.” 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—We have lately been busily engaged in preparing 
and sowing the land with spring Wheat, Beans, Peas, Oats, and Barley. 
We have sown a new sort of spring Wheat, raised from a single 
plant, and called the Red Talavera. We noticed a field of this last 
harvest, and in walking through it found an enormous crop of straw, 
although it was growing upon a strong soil. Barley will not be 
grown so much as heretofore upon loamy soils where roots have been 
fed off by sheep, as the land has been so seriously poached by the 
treading of the animals that it has been found impossible to obtain 
a Barley tilth without much spring labour, which means a late and 
deferred seed time. It is in consequence thought best to sow the 
land with early white Oats, to be seeded with Clover and Alsike 
mixed, and as the Oats come to harvest very early a good cutting of 
Clover for horses and cattle will be available until the first frosts 
in November occur. This mode of using the autumn growth of the 
young seeds has often proved more beneficial for the next year’s 
growth in our own case than when it has been eaten down by sheep, 
which eat out the crowns of the plants, and in the winter months 
they die, the land in consequence being erroneously termed Clover- 
sick. 
Potatoes should next be planted, especially if of the early varieties : 
but we do not recommend very early sorts for farm planting, except 
in case of being near a town or railway within reach of the market of 
the metropolis, in which case any quantity can be disposed of. For 
farm cropping generally we recommend the second earlies, which may 
