VOL. L. NO. 2184. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 5, i89i. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
“MILK TYPE” AND “ BEEF TYPE.” 
•‘BLOCKY” AND "RANGY” STEERS. 
( Continued .) 
A Galloway Breeder’s Opinion. 
I don’t think cows good for the pall and butter tub may 
also prove good for the butcher’s block. I believe that 
training a cow into the “milking” habit would injure 
her for meat production. There is certainly a good deal of 
difference between the “ milk ” and " meat, ” types in their 
capacity for acquiring "thickness of flesh,” and “in¬ 
ternal” and “external” fat. Could animals of both 
types be distinguished when slaughtered and hung up, if 
they were equally well fattened ? It would be simply im¬ 
possible to fatten them equally well. I can’t say that the 
differences between the dressed carcasses of the two kinds 
are always constitutional. Training, feeding, etc., have 
much to do with the matter: so have early breeding and 
development. Animals of the same breed can, to a great 
extent, be so raised as to approximate one type or the 
other according to the owner’s intention. 
Johnson Co., Iowa. thomas mcfarlane. 
Mixed Farming Needs Mixed Cattle Traits. 
1. Cows that are good milkers are frequently found to 
be economical feeders for the block. As regards the 
statement, and in a very long experience can recall no case 
supporting the contrary conclusion. 
3. In my opinion the encouragement of the tendency to 
lay on flesh before coming into milk will Injure the future 
milking capabilities of a cow : and, furthermore, it may 
be safely asserted that the undue forcing of the fattening 
property during the period of a young animal’s growth, 
while it may be profitable to the feeder when the animal 
is sent to the butcher at a young age, is injurious to its 
subsequent utility for all purposes. 
4, 5 and 6. I have bad no experience upon the points sug¬ 
gested in these questions. 
7 As regards a constitutional difference in animals of 
flesh and milk-producing habits, it is perfectly certain 
that if any such difference exists it must be observable 
in both sexes, because it is well known that these proper¬ 
ties are constantly transmitted by both sires and dams. 
It is unquestionably true that the milking habit may be 
forced to such an extent by bringing the heifers into milk 
at early ages, and continuing the milking so as to allow 
no time to recuperate before the next calving—by feeding 
on warm slops of a character to Increase the flow of milk 
with but little fat or flesh-producing ingredients, and by 
confinement in warm quarters, etc , etc.—and continuing 
this system for many generations, that there will be estab¬ 
lished a lean and somewhat delicate habit, indicated by a 
“ Beef Types” are Often Good Milkers. 
1 Animals are often good milkers though of the “beef 
type,” and in such cases are econom'cal feeders. 
2 If the animal is of the “ milk type,” and the milking 
is heavy and prolonged, it is very doubtful whether its 
subsequent fattening would be profitable compared with 
the returns from a fattened animal that had not been so 
heavily milked. 
3. Yes; heifers for milking purposes should not be so 
fattened, but one should not confound ** fat ” and “ flesh.” 
4. Animals of the “ milk type ” (of equal ages, etc ) have 
a much more slender muscular development, and hence 
less lean meat and also lack in ability or disposition 
to fatten, and require a longer time to make tallow 
or fat. 
5 In my opinion all could not be “equally well fat¬ 
tened” (food and time being equal), and there would be 
quite an apparent difference in the color and marbling of 
the meat. The dressed animals from the Chicago F it 
Stock Show have shown this often. 
6. Answered above. 
7. “ Like mother, like son.” No race can be bred in 
which sons will not resemble their mothers. A race of 
good milkers of the “beef type ” can be bred—and are bred 
—among Short-horns, and also a race of good beef animals 
of the “ milk type” among Red Polls, though in neither case 
DEVON STEER DISCO. Fig. 305. 
GALLOWAY STEER COLBY. Fig. 306. 
Short horn or Durham breed I think this is generally the 
case. The sticklers for some of the dairy breeds have in¬ 
sisted that good feeding and good milking qualifications 
could not be promoted together; and yet it must be con¬ 
fessed that intelligent farmers, in selecting their breeding 
stock, have always aimed to cultivate together these two 
very essential properties; and this for the obvious reason 
that the average farmer, following the system of mixed 
husbandry generally practiced in this country, cannot 
afford to breed cattle that do not possess these two quali¬ 
ties. It is doubtless true that the quantity as well as the 
quality of the yield of milk may be very materially af¬ 
fected by the keep of the cow, and if for several genera¬ 
tions a cow is fed with a view to the production of the 
largest quantity of milk regardless of its quality, the 
result will be the creation of a lean habit in the animal, 
which in the course of many generations may become 
hereditary. But there is no reason for the assumption 
that a good yield of rich milk, though assiduously culti¬ 
vated, is unfavorable to good fattening properties. Indeed, 
it is certain that cows “good for the pail as long as 
wanted and then quickly got into marketable condition ” 
of flesh, have been for many generations and are at this 
day regularly bred in many parts of Great Britain as well 
as in this country. 
2. I do not think that the milking habit, as above de¬ 
fined, will injure a cow for the subsequent production of 
flesh. I have had many illustrations of the truth of this 
thin bide, short and light coat of hair and a general de¬ 
ficiency in muscular development, which in several races 
of European cattle is observed to be hereditary. Are these 
characteristics essential to the largest yield of good milk t 
I think not, but whether so or not, it is certain that ani¬ 
mals of this character cannot be profitably reared by the 
farmer, however profitable they may be to the dairyman 
during the milking period. 
Perhaps I should have added that in my judgment in 
making these experiments several matters of importance 
have been overlooked. 1. The quality as well as the quan¬ 
tity of the beef should be considered. The so-called blocky 
form is not generally found in connection with the higher 
quality; and the fine well laid shoulder as found in 
highbred Devon or Short horn cows, indicates high quality 
of flesh as well as superior dairy properties. Supposing it 
possible to breed two distinct types as suggested; is such a 
thing practicable ? A man on the Western ranches may 
breed for the packers and canners at Chicago; or one on 
the Channel Islands where there is no grass, may breed for 
butter ; but our farmers are for the most part engaged in 
mixed husbandry and have holdings of limited extent, 
and must have a general-purpose cow. 
But again, in this part of the country the Short-horn 
blood has been more generally diffused in the herds of 
farmers than that of all the other breeds combined. How 
much would it cost to make and establish grades of any 
other blood as this is now established ? T. c. jonbs. 
can the highest mark be reached, in one case of milk, and 
the other of beef, which is attained only by exclusive de¬ 
votion to a special purpose. w. A. HARRIS. 
Leavenworth Co., Kan. 
A Short-horn Note. 
1. Good milkers may also lie good beefers. 2. Training 
a cow into the milking habit need not necessarily Injure 
her for beef production. 3. There might be danger of in¬ 
jury to future milk production if the tendency to fatten 
were encouraged before the cow had come into milk. 4. 
Any differences in the “thickness of the flesh,” etc., would 
depend on the breed. If Short-horns of the “beef” and 
“ milk ” types were equally fattened, I think there would 
be either no difference or a very slight one. 5. I don’t be¬ 
lieve the different types could be distinguished by an ex¬ 
amination of dressed carcasses. 7. I think it would be im¬ 
practicable to breed a race of cattle in which the males would 
be clearly of the meat type and the females possessing an 
excessive tendency to milk. “ Like begets like or the like¬ 
ness of some immediate ancestor ” is the rule applicable 
alike to males and females. Such a result of breeding as 
that here suggested would upset all past teaching and 
experience. The thing is not only impracticable but im¬ 
possible. WILLIAM BALL. 
Livingston Co., Mich. 
Results of the Feeding Test. 
In this and the previous issue, pictures of seven animals 
are given. Eight steers were fed and killed, but we have 
