The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-06-03


certain individuals of his herd. The
| statement that he used Galloway bull
upon his breeding stock is stoutly de-
MED and 1t is claimed by short horn
men that be onlv bred one of his in.
ferior COWS to the Galway bull to see
what the cross would produce and that
neither that COW nor any of her pro-
geny was ever used by him as breed
! ing animal, and that the Galloway cross
ended with that COW. The best bull
that the Colling produced and that
stands the highest in the short horn
history was Comet and "Favorite"
another superior animal. "Comet"
sold for one thousand guineas, which
was the highest price ever paid for q
single animal up to that time. There
! were at least five hundred herds of
pure bred short horns in Great Britain
twenty years ago and from six to seven
| thousand head were registered in the
herd book every alternate year at that
period.
Short horns were originally known
as the Durham, from the country in
which it originated These terms are
now regarded as synomous and inter-
changeable. AS said before the pre-
else origin of the short horn, like that
of nearly all breeds of British cattle, Is
involved in much obscurity and reaches
oack into the misty past which we can
not penetrate. The Romans, Saxons,
Danes and Normans who conquered
England in turn brought cattle with
| them that were successfully crossed on
the native breeds, and this in part ac-
counts for the variety of the cattle
The lack of interchange in live stock
for centuries after the Norman conquest
favored the development of distinctive
types through the modifying influence
of climate, soil, shelter and treatment.
Thus it was that in the rich pasture
lands of the counties of Durham and
Yorkshire and especially in the valley
OF the river Tees, a comparatively large
type of cattle existed several centuries
ago. these cattle were the ancestors of
our modern short horns
| For long time there we're two in
dependent strains of ancestry, i. e., the
Teeswater and the Holderness; but
these have long since been blended
through the indescriminate crossing of
their descendants.
Those Teeswater and Holderness
progenitors of the modern short horn
possessed high and broad .carcases,
/ good milking qualties and an aptitude
to fatten, but their flesh was coarse and
accompanied by large amount of offal
1t is pretty certain however. that q
dutch cross was introduced about the
| year 1910 and also at subsequent
| period or periods. Several good herds
of short horns existed in England in
the northern counties as early as the
eighteenth century.
| Notable among these were the herds
of Earl of Northumberland, Sir VIM.
ST. Quinton, Milbank, Croft, Steven
son, Maynard and Wetherell.
The average size of the cattle in
those days was larger than it is now
but they were not equal to the cattle
of today in quality, symmetry and
earl? maturing properties. Among
those who improved early on the short
horns may be mentioned Bakewell,
the Colling Bros of Ketton, who COM
menced their work of Improvement
about 1850 somewhat earlier. They
selected their foundation stock whers-
ever they could get good animals They
aimed at reducing the frame and i'm
proving the general symmetry and
heshing properties of their favorites,
They bred many famous bulls, also the
noted Durham Ok and the famous
| White Heifer that travelled around to
the great fairs as the great show ami
mails.
In 1910 the Colling Bros herd of
short horns was sold at dispersion
sale and was taken by the noted breed.
ers as the foundation of their herds.
Thos. Bates, a faithful disciple of the
Colling Bros who commenced breeding
short horns at Kirklevington' late in
the eighteenth century, purchased
many of the best animals and laid the
foundation for his great herd and from
this foundation produced the Princess,
Duchess and Oxford families which be-
came famous among short horn breed.
ers and their descendants have since
held high place among pure bred cat
tie. Bates died in 1910 and his herd
was dispersed in 1850.
The Bates short horns were distin-
guished by their size, good milk quail.
ties, cleanness of head neck and link
and elegant style.
Another famous improver of short
horns was Richard Booth, who founded
the famous herd at Studley about 1890
work we'll sustained at a latter per.
iod by his sons, Thomas and John al
Waslaby and Kilerby.
The special aim of Booth was tt
lengthen the hind quarter to fill up the
fore flank, to secure greater depth o.
flesh and strength of constitution
that would stand forcing we'll.
!, The Booth bulls have been found
great improvers of herds into which
they have been introduced.
.. The last and greatest improver o
short horns was Amos Cruickshank O
: Cittyton, Aberdeenshire. Scotland
,, who may be regarded as the originate
!. of Scotch short horns. The many tribe!
of this famous herd were built upon {
mixed Bates and Booth foundation l
was founded IN 1887 and dispersed il
! 1889 The Cruickshank cattle o
Scotch short horns were less in siz,
/. than either the Bates or Booth cattl,
: but they we're more compact and block.
in build. took on flesh more rapid,
= and were superior when placed on til,
: block Scotch short horns have com
). manded high prices and have beef
great prize winners during recen
!, years. Farmers Tribune.