The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1877-02-21
The Hiking Qualities OF Short
Horns.

Without any desire or intention
to disHarage by what we shall say
the claims Of any other breed Of cat.
tie to pre-cminence in lie dairy, we
wish to say that those who fancy
the Sk0rt-horns without merit in
this particular are the victims of q
great delusion. Originally the
SLort-hoUns were maintained, In
part, for their duty qualities, and it
was as possessing these qualities in
high degree that they first came in
to great prominence. The herd OF
Thomas Bates-descendaHts Of which
sell for such fabulous prices, that it
would almost seem as il they be-
lOnged TO some other order Of ami
mals--were brought together and
kept for years as dairy cattle; and
among the earliest things we know
OF them is the matchIess quality Of
the butter that was made upon the
farm.
By some singular means. many
breeders IL later days have come TO
place lOT estimate upon the milk
ing qualities of their cattle. Calves,
OF course, they must have, to pre-
vent the business from breaking
down altogether; but as soon as
possible the youhgster was removed
and the dam encouraged to put on
flesh By every art and appliance
that cOald be brought TO bear. The
result Of such treatment, continued
through generations, has been to
dwarf the development o. many ami
mails in this particular. and to re
duee the average of milking eapaci-
t. to q minimum. We have had
too many cattle in the hands Of
parties who, when stripped Of all
DISCUSSES, must fairly be set down as
traders, and not breeders. The
dollar in sight, and how to get their
hands upon it in the shortest time,
and with the least trouble, has oc-
cupied their thoughts TO the exclu-
sion Of all regard for the proper and
evenly balanced deyeIopment Of
their cattle. TO get the calf and
feed up the dam for show as quickly
as possible, has been their rule
And, besides this, there has been
an almost universal careIessness in
the selection o. crosses 10 perpetu-
ate and develop the milking capaci-
ty of the animals. IF the bull were
q Kirklevington or Rose Of Sharon,
a Duke, an Oxford, a Booth, or
some other. strain whose pedigree
happened for the time TO be fancied,
no question was asked as to whether
his Sire and dam we're Of a milking
or non-miIking family. And thus
the great body of ShOrt-horn owners /
drifted away. gradually but surely, |
from the true standard ofexcelence. |
But the condition Of the Short
horn COW that makes her a poor |
mixer as a artificial one, opposed |
to all her national inclinations and |
tendencies, and so she responds |
promptly to the effort Of the breed |
or who makes the effort to bring let /
back to her old national habit. And |
the time is near at hand when
breeders Of ShOrt-horns viii be com
PEELED to pay more attention to
"milking qualities when it viii be !
said Of an animal that her dam made
so many pounds Of butter in a given
time the dam Of the sire gave so
many thousand pounds Of milk
within the season. and the grandsire
was the sire OF the first-prize mich
COW at sucIr aud such fairs-the first
among an hundred entries. There
will be more music in this, and more
dollars in it, than in the senseless !