Fergus County Democrat., 1913-10-14
MILKING SHOR7HORNS
FOR THE NORTHWEST
(By Prof. Thos. Shawl

(By Prof. Thos. Shaw
There is now in the quarantine at
South Quebec the largest importation
OF milking Shorthorns ever brought
to America. Heretofore only a few
individuals of this class have ever
crossed the Atlantic for this country.
These cattle were purchased in Eng
land by Mr.. j. J. Hill, and will be
brought to his North Oaks farm not
lar IRON ST. Paul Mr.. Hill is a
strong believer in the value OF the two
purpose COW, that is, the COW for milk
and also for beef, usually spoken of
now as the dual purpose COW, and of
COWS OF this class he regards none as
superior to the milking Shorthorns,
called in Britain the dairy Shorthorn.
lie believes that this type of COW is
one that is admirably suited to the
needs OF the average farmer, and in
this he is unquestionably right, not
Withstanding the teaching of many in
our experiment stations to the con-
trary.
Many in those stations have taught
that there was no place for the dual
COW on the farm. They have said she
was "a myth, delusion and snare"
They have claimed that to keep her on
the farm was like going to hunt
prairie chickens with a bull pup" or
like riding into battle on a heavy
draught horse" Those men were hon
est in their statements, but they sim
ply did not know. They thought they
knew, but they were mistaken. More
over, they claimed that dual cattle
could not be bred. For twenty five
years some Of those men have been
diligently propagating that nonsense,
and the public funds have borne the
expense.
The folly Of such teaching will be
apparent from the following: In Eng
land there is today an association for
promoting the interests of this breed.
! This association has now 1856 men,
bers. In 1912 it published the records
of milk production from 234 females,
of which quite a percentage were
riod
The average of milk production
from these was between 1000 and
5000 pounds for the year. Some went
higher than 10000 pounds. At Kel-
enscott, Lechlade, Worcestershire, the
owner. Robert Hobbs. has kept milk
ing Shorthorns constantly since 1878.
The herd now numbers nearly 200
cows in milk. Since 1908 the average
OF all these, including large lot of
heifers, in milk production has been
considerably more than 5000 pounds
each year. The COW Dulcie 7th with
one-year milk record ending May 81,
1913, gave 1883 pounds, and the COW
Rose 37th, 14,277 pounds. Many other
instances of similar production may
be cited. Cows Of this breed stand
first in the milking trials of the shows
more frequently than those Of any
other breed, including the milking
breeds
While the production of milk is thus
highly satisfactory, all the males not
wanted for beef are grown into bull
locks. They are reared ON skim milk
and adjuncts during the milk period.
They are sold at the age of eighteen
to thirty months. At twenty-four
months they usually average not less
than 1900 pounds, and sell for 500
to $l25 each. They are favorites with
the butcher as there is less loss in
cutting up the carcass than with bull
locks reared on the dams. There Is a
larger proportion of lean and less un-
desirable fat on the hand-reared
steers. 1t is fact that fully 80 per
cent of the milk used in Britain
comes from pure and grade Shorthorns
and nearly as high percentage of
the meat. Mr.. Powell, the venerable
secretary of the Shorthorn association,
told the writer that even many of the
breeders of Scotch Shorthorns are
now milking their herds. Think of the
prices which those cattle bring. At
the dispersal sale of Garrett Taylor
last year 1873 females of all ages sold
for an average of ESQ, 16s, Cd. The
peope of Argentina South Africa,
New Zealand and Australia are now
buying these cattle in large numbers,
and yet the wise men Of our stations
claim that they can't be bred.
Mr. Hills Shorthorn importation
consists of twenty-eight animals, of
which three are males. The females
are young cows from two to six years
old. They are all now milking and
will calve again in due time. Individ-
ually they rank high, having been
chosen with much care. They have
milk records running from 5000 to
10000 pounds year.
There is certainly large room for
this class of cattle in all the north
wetsern states. This does not mean
that there is no place for the dairy
breeds. There is wide place also
for the dairy breeds. but viewed from
the standpoint of the present and pros
pective demand for beef there is a
much larger place for dual cattle.
This in future must come from the
arabic farm, and it must come mainly
! from dual cattle that will ha milked