1030 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 13, 
HIGH-CLASS HORSES FOR NEW YORK. 
The brood mares shown in cut below, 
this page, are kept on a fruit farm in 
Wayne County, N. Y. They are fine 
specimens of what a good brood mare 
ought to be, if a farmer expects to pro¬ 
duce the higher class draught horses. 
We cannot say too frequently that one 
trouble in the past has been the fact that 
farmers have felt that with a good stal¬ 
lion, these fine horses can be produced 
from the ordinary farm mares. This is 
a mistake, and has been proved so again 
and again. In some of the fruit-growing 
sections of New York State, farmers are 
coming more and more to understand 
that high-class live stock will help main¬ 
tain the fertility of the soil, give them a 
certain amount of Winter work, and use 
up the waste farm crops to advantage. 
They are learning, however, that for 
these purposes, it will not pay to keep 
ordinary live stock. A small herd or 
flock, of good, pure breed, will be far 
more profitable than a larger number 
with ordinary breeding. 
Thus it is that with horses, sheep and 
cattle, farmers are learning the value of 
pedigree and high-class individuals. 
There will always be a demand on our 
farms and in the cities for big, shapely 
draught animals. These horses will be 
brought from the West at heavy expense 
and a drain of money from the New York 
farmers, or they will be produced at 
now seems really wonderful how the dis¬ 
horning craze took hold of the imagina¬ 
tion of breeders as a possible means of 
sweeping the useless excrescences from 
the polls of their cattle. It was not only 
asserted by Haaf that by this means he 
could attain such results in eight genera¬ 
tions, but it was also thoroughly believed 
in by the highest authorities in science, 
with even Haeckel at their head! But 
such foolish notions have long since been 
exploded; and now if anyone wishes to 
raise a herd of cattle, characterized by the 
lack of horns from a horned race, he has 
to go back to Mother Nature and watch 
her offerings, for any appearance of a 
“chance” specimen, which he must hoard 
until he is able to mate it with another 
of the opposite sex. That was the 
method, then, not only of Mr. Miller, but 
of Mr. Gammon, and of Mr. Stevenson. 
The patience and persistence of the lat¬ 
ter is truly noteworthy, as his search for 
specimens dates back to 1883, also; and 
his reward is all the morning pleasing, 
and an illustration of what sticking to 
one idea will do. 
It was during 1883 that the writer con¬ 
tributed a series of articles to the Agri¬ 
cultural Gazette, London (then edited by 
Chalmers Morton, editor of the “Ency¬ 
clopedia of Agriculture” that bears his 
name), on polled cattle, in which a great 
array of evidence was produced to show 
the almost universality of the occurrence 
of the polled character among horned 
breeds. I find that the late Mr. A. B. 
Allen noticed these articles and com¬ 
mented upon them in the National Live 
Stock Journal (long defunct) of Febru¬ 
ary, 1884; in which he approved, ap¬ 
parently the conclusion then arrived at, 
that “the earlier form of life from which 
the ox was descended was hornless”; 
and that, therefore, “the polled cattle of 
A QUARTETTE OF WAYNE 
home with less outlay of cash, greater 
satisfaction, and with profit by the in¬ 
troduction of a new industry. Such a 
farmer may breed horses or sheep or 
hogs or cattle, as seems best to him. 
But in any event, it will pay him to 
start with and keep the highest grade 
animal he can get hold of. 
THE MAKING OF HORNLESS RACES. 
Part I. 
The particulars printed in The R. 
N.-Y. on pages 863 and 909, in regard 
to the origin of a herd of Polled Hol- 
steins, are of great and permanent inter- 
est and importance to breeders. I have 
closely followed the development of 
“strains” of hoi-nless cattle ox-iginating 
among horned breeds. In 1889 I reported 
the case of the origin of a herd of Polled 
Jerseys, a brief account of which I sent 
in that or the succeeding year to The R. 
N.-Y. This was the hei’d of Mr. H. C. 
Handley, Newark, Ohio. In 1888 I ob¬ 
tained the details of the origin of the 
Polled Durhams, established by Mr. W. 
S. Miller, Ellmore, O. Then, in 1906, 
came the remarkable case of the origin of 
a Polled Hereford, by Mr. Warren Gam¬ 
mon, Des Moines, Iowa. Now comes the 
case of these Ilolsteins, even more re¬ 
markable—I use the word “remarkable” 
in the last two instances because the horn 
is so characteristic of the two breeds, that 
it would be supposed the breeders would 
shrink from obliterating it. But Fran¬ 
cis M. Jones, of Oneida County, 
N. Y., the producer of the wonderful 
Holstein Pontiac Lass, sold for $10,000, 
with a record of 171.53 pounds of but¬ 
ter, dishorned her, so that dishorning, 
notwithstanding the late Frank Buck- 
land’s fear that cutting the horns out of 
cattle would result in their bleeding to 
death, and was a cruelty that should not 
be tolerated, seems to have been made 
humanely possible. 
All these breeders found only one 
method of obtaining specimens with 
which to form their herds—watching, 
waiting and even advertising for others 
to import instances of hornless specimens, 
from which to select. They had—with 
the exception of Mr. Handley, who found 
out his erroi’, no delusions about the pos¬ 
sibility of obtaining polled specimens by 
means of “Saw, Mallet and Chisel,” or 
“Firing Iron,” as sires. That was the 
method implicitly believed in during the 
the era of Haaf—the apostle of dishorn¬ 
ing. The present writer contributed some 
articles on this subject to The R. N.-Y. 
on “Siring by a Saw.” Looking back, it 
CO., N. Y. BROOD MARES. 
to-day are a reversion from the horned 
to an ancestral hornless type.” This 
opinion I believe later elicited from Prof. 
Boyd Dawkins (author of “Early Man 
in Britain”), where the matter of early 
cattle in Britain was dealt with, the re¬ 
mark that it appeared to him to be seek¬ 
ing a rather distant source for the polled 
character of to-day, in these early horn¬ 
less ruminants of the Miocene age. Yet 
do not these polled of to-day, descend 
lineally, or collaterally, from the previous 
generation that linked the present with 
the simpler, hornless sort of that 
distant past? Mr. Allen remarked in 
his letter, “There can be no doubt that 
polled cattle are a very ancient race; and 
this is px-oved by the prepotency at the 
present time of the males crossed on 
horned females, about nine-tenths of the 
progeny growing up hornless”—which is 
another way of saying, as writers do 
now, that the “polled character is domi¬ 
nant (prepotent) to the horned,” a very 
remarkable thing, for if the horned were 
of such vital importance as seems always 
to have been claimed, how does it yield 
always to the polled, in the offspring? 
The articles commented on by Mr. 
Allen, were later expanded and appeared 
under the title “Hornless Ruminants,” 
in the American Naturalist, 1887, which 
led to some intei'esting correspondence 
between the writer and Prof. E. D. Cope, 
the editor of that publication, who was 
at that time engaged in his studies on 
evolution. Then, 1896, appeared a thesis 
by Erik Oscar Arenander, a Swede, upon 
the occasion of his graduation at the 
University of Halle, on the subject 
(which was largely compiled from the 
American Naturalist articles), and a 
copy of which is preserved in the Public 
Library, New York City. The author 
came to the conclusion that “the hornless 
were older than the horned,” and that 
“the white color (of the early polled) de¬ 
scended from the glacial epoch.” Mr. 
Arenander’s interest in the subject may 
be traced to the fact of the existence, in 
his native country, of a famous white 
polled breed of cattle, which had been 
bred for more than 1,000 years—an edi¬ 
torial paragraph in regard to which ap¬ 
peared in The R. N.-Y., January 3, 1889, 
and to which I am indebted for this in¬ 
teresting fact. It is mentioned because 
of the further interesting fact, namely, 
that the latest theory about the origin 
of the British races of polled cattle is 
that they were derived from the cattle 
the Scandinavian migrants, rovers, or 
conquerors, brought with them from their 
homes to the British and Irish coast, upon 
which they landed and settled. 
BOBERT C. AULD. 
Almost everything but the cow 
in this picture is concrete. The trough, the water tank, the 
wind wall and the stable—all concrete. Think of the things 
you can huild on your farm—permanently of concrete: 
Feed floors, fence posts, walks, 
foundations, steps, ice houses, 
cellars—think of it! 
Over a million and a half farmers have had our free 168-page 
hook "Concrete Construction about the Home and on the 
Farm.” Have you had your copy ? "Write for it today. 
If your dealer cannot su> .ly you with Atlas, write to 
THE ATLAS port ^j? CEMENT CO., Dept 22, 30 Broad St.,N.Y 
Chicago — Philadelphia 
Largest productive capacity of any cement company in the world. Over 50,000barrel* per day. 
ATLAS 
W PORTLAND %' 
ATLAS 
! %fE«NT^ 
PORTLAND 
CEMENT 
HAVANA -i 
Steel Wheels 
For any wagon or cart you 
may have on your farm. We 
make the wheels to fit your 
axle. You Rive ua the exact 
dimensions of your axle, as 
asked for on our order sheet.and 
we guarantee a fit. If you are 
interested, we shall be pleased 
to forward you our catalogue 
and order sheet. Write us. 
Havana Metal Wheel Co. 
Box 17. Havana, Illinois 
ENSILAGE AN D FODDE R 
CUTTERS 
4 sizes; m ade with 
attachments; I to 20 
h. p. Gasoline Engines; 
6 sizes Separators; 
Hand and Power Corn 
Shellers, Wood Saws, 
Land Rollers, etc. 
Box 2,MesslngerMIg.Co.,Tatamy,Pa 
SAVE HALF Your 
Paint Bills 
By using INGERSOLL PAINT —proved 
best by 66 years’ use. It will please you. 
Only paint endorsed by the “Grange.” 
Made in all colors—for all purposes. 
DELIVERED FREE 
From the Mill Direct to You at Factory Prices. 
INGERSOLL PAINT BOOK —FREE 
Tells all about Paint and Painting for Durability. 
How to avoid trouble and expenso caused by paints 
fading, chalking and peeling. Valuable information 
free to you, with Sample Color Cards. Write me. DO 
IT NOW. I can save you money. 
O.W. IngersoM, 246 Plymouth St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 
Save Work, 
Time, Money 
By using ourlowdown 
steel wheel 
wagon 
Handy Wagons 
saves high lifting, lighten 
draft, don’t rut roads. Spokea 
don’t loosen—wheels don’t dry out or rot 
Write for free book on Wagons and Wheels. 
”Electric Wheel Co., 4# Elm Street, Quincy, Ilk 
will never shrink, swell or collapse in dry weather or 
collect mould inside while empty if you paint it with Ave- 
narius Carbolineum—the very best wood preserving paint 
for barns, shingles, poits, ind general farm use. Goes 
further than ordinary paint ; cheap and easily applied. Has a beautiful 
chestnut brown color. Not only preserves wood, but keeps out all insects, 
teredos, dry rot, etc. Costs little and goes far. Easily applied as paint or 
spray. Has a hundred uses about the place. Every (armer should have a 
supply at all times. Your dealer has it—ask for AVENARIUS—do not take 
substitutes. Write for Bulletin 33, giving full directions and prices. 
CARBOLINEUM WOOD PRESERVING CO.. 181 FRANKLIN STREET. NEW YORK CITY 
YOUR 
SILO 
fiitt. 
in 
Tdjusts easily to hilly land 
N O TROUBLE at all 
to quickly string 
“ Pittsburgh Perfect ” Fence 
over hills and through valleys. 
It contains no single, separate 
wire. The joints are 
WELDED BY ELECTRICITY 
making: a ono-pioco fnbric without tho extra weight of wuste wire. 
Jnado Of spoefal Open Hearth wire, heavily galvanized with pure 
zinc, bLrongoat and mont durable fenco produced anywhere. 
Thousands who ubo it Bay it'a BEST. 
New catalogue (sent free) hIiowh tho many dif¬ 
ferent HtyI or and sfscs of “Pittsburgh Perfect" 
Fence for Field, Farm, Ranch, Lawn, Chicken, Poultry an 
Rabbit Yard and Garden. 
PITTSBURGH STEEL CO. 
PITTSBURGH, PA. 
“©ftWhere this sign’s displayed is sold the best fence made 
Perfectly effective under 
all conditions, because i t’sa 
ONE-PIECE FENCE 
fh 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. : : : 
