1 Apri, 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 263. 
It should be borne in mind that when caustic potash is exposed to the 
atmosphere, it loses its power as an escharotic, and, therefore, the air must be 
carefully excluded from it. 
Although I have never heard the argument advanced, dehorning may have 
been objected to, as it would interfere with an article of export of considerable 
value to butchers, meat companies, and boiling establishments; but it can be 
very easily shown that the advantages of dehorning are much greater than the 
loss of the by-product of horns. The evidence of the Americans, who make 
the most of al] by-products, and where dehorning is more extensively practised 
than in any other country, may well be accepted on that point. 
HINTS AS TO NEW BREEDS OF CATTLE, 
Tue following paper, by Mr. Robert Bruce (secretary of the Dublin Society), 
which we take from the ZLive Stock Journal, on the subject of new breeds of 
cattle, will be read with interest, especially as Mr. Bruce is considered the best 
judge of cattle in the United Kingdom, where he has won many a championship - 
himself :-— 
While much attention has been given to cattle-breeding during the present 
century, it is somewhat peculiar that near the dawn of the 20th century we 
possess no greater number of distinct breeds of cattle than did the cattle- 
breeders of Britain 100 years ago. That many, or at least several, of our now 
distinct breeds were produced during the close of the 18th and the beginning 
of the 19th century cannot be denied, and if would seem as if for the past 
hundred years cattle-breeders have accepted the legacy left them in the matter 
of breeds, showing little, if any, inclination to increase their numbers. Many 
will no doubt hold that during the past hundred years several of our now 
popular breeds have been so improved as practically to have become new 
varieties. While such opinions may be, and are held, it would, by owners of 
these breeds, be considered heresy to question their antiquity, or their claim to 
having been a distinct breed in the latter part of the last or the beginning of 
the present century. Let ustake any breed, any of our now established breeds, 
examine the pedigrees as recorded in the herd-book, and less even than 100 
years of backward tracing will lead us into a maze from which it is most 
“difficult to escape with authentic genealogical records likely to satisfy a careful 
student. If this be the case, and we venture to assert that it is, it is impossible 
to get beyond the fact that in the improvement of all our breeds of cattle there 
must have been much mixing up at no very distant date. Breeders of the 18th 
century, having been taught by Bakewell, resorted to close breeding, or in-and- 
in-breeding, with the view of fixing types and establishing prepotency, so’ that 
distinctive qualifications could be safely counted upon, like begetting like, and 
breeds becoming established. 
It seems strange that cattle-breeders during the present century should 
have rested satisfied with the breeds of cattle they possess without attempting 
further departures, when sheep-breeders, pig-breeders, fanciers of dogs, poultry, 
rabbits, &c.,as wellas gardeners, have continued to bring out and fix new types, 
new breeds, and new varieties. 
If we take the most widely spread of ail our breeds and consider for 
a moment what has been done by Shorthorn breeders since the day of the 
Collings, we will find that, speaking generally, they have striven to produce, , 
and aimed at breeding, nothing more than did those famous breeders of 100 
years ago. 
In the face of keen competition, through improved means of transit and 
other developments, the rough and ready farming and stock-breeding of bygone 
days must necessarily be changed if farmers are to derive profit or even a 
living. Britain is famous for being the home of breeds of cattle, horses, 
