1880.] 
AMKKACATST AGRICULTURIST, 
55 
The Angus Polled Cattle. 
The engravings on this page are portraits of some 
Angus Polled cattle, popularly known as “doddies,” 
l>red by Mr. Thomas Ferguson, of Kinnochtry 
(Klnnochtry), near Coupar-Angus, Scotland. We 
have a full account of this famous Kinnochtry 
herd, sent by Mr. Alexander Ferguson, the son of 
Mr. Thos. Ferguson, and 
we regret we can find space 
for only a short transcript 
of his extended article. 
Mr. F.’s herd was started 
in 1835, and since then has 
been under a course of con¬ 
stant improvement, until it 
is now a model herd of 
these useful and much 
esteemed cattle. The grow¬ 
ing popularity of the polled 
breeds in the United States 
is to he noted not only 
among breeders, and graz¬ 
iers of beeves, but dairymen 
are losing their prejudice 
in favor of the dangerous 
and injurious horns, and 
are more and more favora¬ 
bly inclined towards polled 
animals. A remarkably 
graceful and beautiful poll¬ 
ed cow, a cross between a 
polled bull and a Jersey 
cow, was exhibited at the 
last N. J. State Fair, and 
attracted much attention. 
It is unquestionable that a 
useful, docile, and harmless 
race of cross-bred dairy ani¬ 
mals might be produced by 
crossing our best native cows with polled bulls from 
cows selected for their milking qualities. The 
polled cattle have been bred long enough to thor¬ 
oughly establish their peculiarities ; and their pre¬ 
potency is so strong as to stamp their hornless 
character upon their progeny with almost unfailing 
certainty. That a large majority of the calves got 
by polled bulls are also polled, has already been 
proved by the successful experiments of the late 
Mr. Grant, of Victoria, Kansas, from whose herds 
polled grade steers have already come to market. 
The Kinnochtry herd owes some of its excellence 
to that of Mr. Hugh Wat¬ 
son, of Keillor, a farm near 
to Mr. Ferguson’s, where 
Mr. Watson had been en¬ 
gaged in improving the 
breed since 1S08. The 
Keillor herd is noted for 
producing “ Old Grannie,” 
a cow which lived 351 years, 
and produced 25 calves, 11 
of which are registered in 
the Polled Herd-book. She 
milked up to her 29th year, 
when she ceased breeding. 
“Old Grannie’s” last calf, 
a bull, “ Hugh,” was used 
in the Kinnochtry herd, and 
bore a striking resemblance 
to “Shah,” the subject of 
our portrait. The imme¬ 
diate progenitors of this 
herd have a direct and close 
ancestry for 111 years, trac¬ 
ing back to the original 
source of Mr. Watson’s 
Keillor herd. This herd 
has thus the oldest and best 
blood in existence, and 
numerous prizes have been 
secured by animals of this 
strain, from that gained by “Old Grannie ” at Perth, 
in her 6th year, up to the first prize at the Highland 
Society’s Show in 1878, taken by “ Shah,” who was 
exhibited after having served more than 60 cows 
during that summer. At the exhibition of the 
National Society of Ireland, in 1879, att the prize 
polled animals were the produce of Kinnochtry 
bulls; while the prizes directly taken by members 
of the Kinnochtry herd number several hundreds. 
These cattle are accustomed to a bleak climate, and 
may, therefore, be expected to be hardy ; but their 
natural vigor has also enabled them to survive and 
thrive in the West Indies, where, after having wit¬ 
nessed the failure of Shorthorns, Herefords, and 
Ayrshires, a Polled Angus bull still remains health¬ 
ful and vigorous after several years residence in 
that hot climate. In short, there is no doubt of 
the usefulness and value of this breed of cattle, 
in their own home and in other countries. It re¬ 
mains to be shown that they can be made both use¬ 
ful and profitable here. For the production of 
beef they stand ahead of all, even of the vaunted 
Shorthorns. Of this there is no question. The 
absence of horns renders them inoffensive and 
harmless to other cattle and 6afe with their keepers; 
besides giving them an economical value in the 
market, on account of their more easy carriage. 
For the dairy they promise equal advantages. They 
are fair milkers, as they now exist, with all their 
aptitude for taking flesh and fat, and the milk is 
remarkably rich in butter. For crossing upon our 
large milking native cows they are considered to be 
of great value, and so soon as a few enterprising 
dairymen have, by successful breeding and use, 
removed the baseless prejudice against black and 
hornless cattle, we look for an extended introduc¬ 
tion of polled cows into our dairies. These cattle, 
at least the strain under notice, have been closely 
but very skillfully and successfully in-and-in bred, 
and to this their excellence and uniformity of type 
are due. Such stock may 
be made to take on any 
character we wish, and it 
will be as easy to make 
dairy cattle of them, as 
beeves. The polled head 
should be the “trade mark” 
of the dairy, as it may now 
well be taken as that of the 
grazier of beeves. The 
handsome figure of the 
heifer, a “ Favorite,” 
daughter of “ Favorite 
5th,’’ coming 3 years old, 
as shown by our portrait, is 
that of a model cow ; she 
gained first prize at the 
Strathmore show in 1879, 
and her heifer calf is said 
to be remarkably promis¬ 
ing. It is a model cow, not 
for the dairy, we admit, 
but for a square, massive, 
symmetrical beef animal, 
will rival the best of the 
Shorthorns. We here re¬ 
peat, these animals are 
plastic in the breeder’s 
hands, and may be made 
excellent for use in other 
ways than for beef. Dairy 
products are as indispensa¬ 
ble as beef, and it certainly seems desirable that 
the good qualities of the polled breed should 
3e fumed to account in both the dairy and stalL 
Among the Farmers.—No. 49. 
BT ONE OF THEM. 
If I make out to break away from my little farm 
and from the routine of business, I am expected 
to tell the American Agriculturist readers about it. 
The Massachusetts Butter Show. 
An urgent letter from my old friend, James 8. 
Grinnell — a most active 
man in all that affects the 
agriculture of Franklin 
County, as well as in many 
other good things, and 
who honors the position of 
President of the Agricul¬ 
tural Society of that County 
—decided me to go to the 
first State Butter Show ever 
held in Massachusetts. The 
movement for a show orig¬ 
inated with Mr. Grinnell 
and Major Alvord, of East 
Hampton, and it was cer¬ 
tainly a great success, as 
well as an instructive and 
interesting occasion. The 
time selected was when the 
winter meeting of the 
Mass. Board of Agriculture 
is held, butter was shown, 
and dairy subjects dis¬ 
cussed in the meetings. 
The show was not only 
one of butter, but of but¬ 
ter-making apparatus, or 
which there is a large va¬ 
riety at every such exhibi¬ 
tion. Among other useful 
things, those which most interested me were 
Mr. Bond’s Centrifugal Machines, 
and Mr. Burnett's statements of his success in the 
daily use of the only one, a “ Weston ” machine, 
which has been put to the test of practical use in 
