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Show u SHORTHORNS -AS MILKERS. Editor Dcscrct Farmer: Will you kindly publish some information con-, ccrning milking shorthorns. Where can the best specimens in America be obtained? Do you know anything of the herd owned by "Inncs & May" of Granville Centre, Pa? M. B. For-est For-est Dale. . Answer . by Prof. T. E. .Woodward, A. C. U. The 'best we can do is to refer your correspondent to the Agricul-, Agricul-, tural College of Idaho, where they have, we understand ,a good sized herd of milking shorthorns. It is altogether al-together probable that they can supply sup-ply his wants. We do not know where the best specimens of this Ibrccd arc to be. obtained and arc not acquainted acquaint-ed with the herd of Inncs and May. In fact we do not profess to be wise on the subject of milking Shorthorns. We do know, however, that on the average they .arc inferior to the Jersey, Jer-sey, Guernsey and Holstcins for dairy purposes. There arc a number of in-, dividuals of the Shorthorn breed1 which have very creditable milk and butter records, but it seems ltiat these dairy qualities are transmitted with no dtgree of certainty. Because of this it is absolutely necessary Jar the breeder to select his individual animals. He has no assurance of what a heifer will be until she has calved and he has tried her out at the .pail. The dairy breeds transmit their qualities with a greater degree of certainty. Shorthorns will not yield as much butter as Jerseys, Guernseys or Holstcins and arc not so profitable. It cost practically as much to feed a poor cow as a gooa one, so why not have the best? The 'breeds referred to above have been bred for centuries for, dairy purposes solely, so w.hy try to convert an animal ani-mal of beefy tendencies into a dairy animal? Why not profit by the efforts ef-forts of the breeders of the past? We admit that the calves of the Shorthorn Short-horn breed and also the cows which have past their period of usefulness arc more valuable for beef than those of the dairy breeds. However, if the correspondent will merely take the time to figure the difference he will j find that this matter of beef is not ( one. of very great importance. j |