SHORT HORNS.
The pure, improved Short Horn, having become an established variety of Neat Stock for useful and farm purposes throughout the Northern and Western States, and proved themselves to be all that can reasonably be expected of them when established on soil productive of an abundance of grass, it is desirable to preserve their blood as pure as possible, and the animals herein inserted have had their pedigrees examined and approved by the Committee appointed for that purpose. It must be admitted that the Short Horns present themselves to notice under circumstances of peculiar interest; possessing in themselves a combination of desirable qualities, and rendered attractive to the eye by their splendid frames, and beautiful varied colors, it is not surprising they have become objects of public interest. Great temptation is laid before a class of men to manufacture pure bloods to suit their purposes, being able to afford them at a much less price than a genuine article. Great facilities are within the reach of all at the present day, who desire to become acquainted with their history and their great performance at the shambles, and for the dairy, and general usefulness as farm stock.
The beef producers, and beef dealers uniformly acknowledge their great superiority over common stock. In the month of November, 1817, the improved Durham Short Horn Bull, Young Denton, (963) then sixteen months old, arrived in Boston, sent out from England by Samuel Williams, of London, a present to his brother Stephen Williams, of Northboro', Worcester Co., Mass.; he remained there until 1827 or 1828, when he was taken to the State of Maine, where he died, April 16, 1830. His Sire was Denton, (198); his G. Sire Comet, (155); was sold for 1000 guineas in 1810. In 1822, Mr. Williams received the Short Horn Cow, Arabella, from the same source; her Sire was North Star, (460); Dam, Aurora by Comet, (155). Both of these animals were bred by that eminent breeder, John Wetherel, who was one of the four spirited purchasers of Comet (155) in 1810, at the price before mentioned. It has been claimed by those who have gone before us, that Young Denton (963) was the first improved Durham Short Horn Bull, imported into the United States. From these two imported animals sprang a very numerous progeny, and their descendants are scattered through all of the Northern States. In 1823 the Bull Admiral, (1608) and Cow Arabella, were sent out from the same herd as a present from Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, who placed them under the charge of E. Hersey Derby, Esq., of Salem, Mass., who bred from them successfully a few years, when the stock on hand was sold and removed to Hartford Co., Conn. Many animals of the present day, trace back to this importation. About the same period, Israel Monson, Esq., of Boston, a large landholder, brought out the Cow, Tube Rose, also from the herd of Mr. Wetherel. She produced but one Heifer in this country, (Rose by Young Denton), which, with her Mother and Daughter, (Nellie by Admiral, (1608)) died about the year 1830.
In 1823. Mr. John S. Skinner, then editor of the American Farmer, Baltimore, imported two Heifers, Conquest and Pansey, and a Bull, Washington, (1566) for Gen. Stephen Van Renselaer, of Albany, N. Y., all from the herd of Mr. Champion, Blythe, England. Many of their descendants are recorded in this book, and are scattered through all the Northern States. All of the above mentioned animals possessed a very high order of excellence for milking capacity, both quality and quantity, and their descendants maintain that character in a very high degree at the present day.
In 1829, Mr. Benjamin Rodman, of New Bedford, Mass., imported three Heifers, Adaliza, Dulcibella, and Galatea, and a Bull, Devonshire, (966) bred by Mr. Whitaker, of Burley, Yorkshire—these were selected by Mr. Francis Rotch, then in England. One of them, Dulcibella was in calf when purchased, and produced Dew Drop, by Charles, (878) from which has sprung a numerous family of Cows, celebrated for their superior dairy qualities.
In 1830, Mr. Enoch Silsby, of Boston, Mass., sent to England and brought out the Cow, Boston, by Sir Charles, (1440) and Bull, Boston, (1735) both bred by Mr. Curry, of Brandon. These animals left a numerous progeny, justly celebrated for strong constitutions as well as rich handling and dairy qualities; many of their descendants are also recorded in this book.
It is not claimed the instances of Short Horn excellence herein cited are superior to many others; they are those that have been noted and the facts made public.
Beef Qualities.
In 1843 a thorough bred Heifer, Regina, three years and a half old, having nursed her calf through the summer, was in thin flesh in the fall. Her bag having been deformed by accident, and she not being in calf, was put into a distillery stall in November, fed on slops and straw, and slaughtered in April following, and her dressed weight, beef, hide and tallow, 1005 pounds; beef of the finest quality.
In 1857, Lucy, a thorough bred Heifer, was turned to pasture with reference to making beef of her, she having proved barren, being then nearly four years old. She was put into the stable in November, fed on good hay and a very small quantity of meal, it being the design to feed her a long time. On the fourth day of January following she was sold to a butcher for ten dollars per cwt., estimated at 1,000 pounds. She was slaughtered at Hartford, Conn., being four years and five months old, having eaten less than two bushels of meal in her life. Her beef was sold, all the prime pieces at twenty-five cents per pound; was a very beautiful animal, with handling properties of the very highest order of excellence.
In the month of January, 1862, Pocahontas, a thorough bred Heifer, was sold and slaughtered, then five years and one month old. Her dressed weight was as follows: hide, ninety pounds; tallow, one hundred and twenty-seven pounds; quarters, eleven hundred and eighteen pounds; total dressed weight, thirteen hundred and thirty-five pounds; was sold for eight cents per pound, making $106.80. Her feed, other than hay and grass, being twenty and one-half bushels of meal in all.
Dairy Qualities.
Lucilla, a thorough bred Heifer, at four years old, gave in June fifty-five pounds of milk on an average for one month; her greatest yield in one day was fifty-nine pounds and eight ounces, and during this month yielded fourteen pounds and eight ounces of butter in one week; her feed, grass, with three quarts of meal daily. At five years old the first week in June, her milk yielded fifteen pounds three ounces of butter, on grass only.
Dorothy, a thorough bred Cow, gave thirty-nine pounds eight ounces of milk per day, three months after calving, on grass only; and in seven days made fifteen pounds one ounce of butter, in October.
Nymph 5th, in the month of June, 1860, gave twenty-four quarts of milk daily for two weeks in succession, and made butter at the rate of two pounds four ounces per day, or fifteen pounds three ounces per week, on grass only.
Rose 2d, a thorough bred Cow, produced seventeen pounds four ounces of butter from one week's milk in June, on grass only.
Longevity.
Princess, a thorough bred Cow, bred regularly up to eighteen years old; was then dried off and turned to grass for beef, and slaughtered in the fall without stall-feeding,