COMING OF LINCOLN REDS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1331, 8 January 1912, Page 8

COMING OF LINCOLN REDS.

A KEW DAIRY COW. At the recent AVnikato spring show Hr. Win. Taylor, of Ohaupo, sprung a surprise, on farmers with a breed of cows new to the Dominion. Jlr. Tnvlor is one of tho foremost breeders ot dairy Shorthorns in. the W'aikato, and, writes "G.F.C.," in an exchange, it was perhaps natural that he should herald into local public knowledge a breed closely related to his beloved Shorthorns, for 'the Lincoln Reds arc, properly speaking, Lincolnshire Red Shorthorns. Lincolnshire is, as is well-known, the leading agricultural county of Great Britain. In tracing the origin of. this lined, which, he considers, will probably be much heard of in Australia and iVeiv Zealand iu the future, the writer savs-.—

Away back in 55 8.C., Julius Caesar found that the original cattle of Britain, Bos Longiforous, were in great numbers.' At a later -period these wero crossed with a type of cattle resembling in some degree the Shorthorn of to-day, though much coarser, and possessing only a short period of lactation. This breed was the Bos Urus, imported by the farmers of Jutland (now Denmark). Hol.-tein, and .c'ricsland, between 140 A.D. and fitiO A.D., on the occa.sion of one nl thiir famous raid- on Britain. Coming in the guise of soldiers, these Norsemen brought also their families and all the necessiiics far felting up their new homes iu a slrango country. An improved sy.-dom of farming followed .their advent, with the emergence of cattle considerably larger than the original rather stumpy lirced of the Britons. From this first cross, and from the Bos Urus, are descended the British cattle breeds of the present day. The counties of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire began, even at this early period, to be (he home of good breeds of cattle. An early writer, Gervaise Jlarkham, described the Lincolnshire cattle in 1695 as being generally

"pyde. with more wliito than the ether colours; their horns little and crook?:!, of bodies exceeding tall, long and large, lean and thin-tlushed, strong-hoved, not lint to s-orbate, and are indeed, fitted lo labour ami draught." In many places Shorthorns are called "Dutch cows." from the fact thai a number of importations on a small scale were made from Holland about the year 1785; l)iit those were only additions lo thn original Shorthorn slock of Lincolnshire. These importations, however, caused a considerable improvement in tvne and in cuttle- breeding ■generally. "Cullv, in his. observations of live sleek, vrit'r'u at this time, says: "In T.incoinsliire, which is the furthest soul!] that one meets'with any number of this breed of cattle, thev ;ire in general inoro subject lo Ivor,'or black lle.-!i than .these bred further north: and in that part of Yorkshire called Hotdonicss. (hey arc much (he same rs those of winch we have been spcakiic" At a later date, in 1792, this writer mentions bis pleasure iii finding ('ml .Lincolnshire farmers had improved Urn breed of their Shorthorns considerably by the judicious use oi good bulls and heilors from , i crk and li-mn Durham. These counties at that Imio held the palm for the best types d ll?"While live Dutch p?oplo '.nu-( Irto* iled willi the improvement of !be Minrllutrn breed, the origin of the Shorthorn came probt'lilv from a cro-s beiv.fon (lie original Ho-: Loiigiforous of liiilau i.ml those callle introduced by the romi'.i'-r----ing Norsemen. To the Dutch, however, isduo l.i u largo cxlenl the increase ,„ Hie pwlnr.tivilv nt the Sborthorn as a milker. A. real improvement, in Lincolnshire cattle b'-'gau about 1775. Then great unwicldly animals, slow to fatten, they came under the influence of famous breeders named ("oiling and T'.irnell. The deep cherry-red colour'of. this breed was aciuiral by Air. Turnoll. His object, however, appears not lo have been (he increase of. the milking finalities, but. to make for i|uicker powers of fattening and a . heller finality joint of meal. The very large size of the animals was also somewhat reduced. A notable touch of I lie gi'cal Colling -Irain was brought into Lincolnshire when .Mr. Grant, of Wvliam. gave 211' guineas tor Hie row Li'ura. hr t'.ivonnlo oiil of Ladv Maiiiiinl. nliieli was the real stem of the Shorlhorn Ivpe a- it is Lvdiv. ■ The cro-s----in" of th>' Turnel! and Colling catlle iontinued. and 110 guineas , Vi ,s paid for :■ bull named favourite, said to have been the be-! bull in his ilay—.iboiil ISIS. From a pedigree s.-,K. -,ii Chilton, in Durham, further bunches of -lock were transported , j tilo Liucolniliirc, one bull, Childcr;,,

cu.-liug _2"i guineas. Tlie i'iiiiHitis Torr herd lit Aylesbury, in . Niirili Lincolnshire. :ivoiiigiii! in i'i7r> the amazing price c:f .toll) i'.K jut head for a herd »f tit; As ii contemporary writer l>iit> il, "This Mauds a> ii landmark in .Vliurihum hi.lory. *l'hi'. Lincolnshire lied, passed through further generations of lanious l;iiM'ilir~, mill thus, it in be ndmitod, lli"v lisix■■ ;i vt'i'v fine pedigree tn their credit. Tlir Ivpc'oud colour of tin- breed tt-'Ti- gradually within tin- County ul' Linuiln. Coates's Herd llnul;, started at this time, was almost entirely avoided by breeders; lml l.y an occasional use of the animals registered in tin's wiih rod bulls, they brought into being an outcross, which become a distinct breed of h'c Shorthorn.-. Tin's sub-breed, or outcross, was, thoy claimed, pos-essod o!'

(.'renter hardiness and thriftiuess, and of capacities for earlier maturity and <|iiielc fattening, with better milking qualities than the parent breed. So popular did the new breed become. Unit of the entile bred in Lincolnshire, at. the present time ',13 per ceiif. ,'ii» Hod Shorthorns. Some of these are unregistered, but. many'are entered in the Herd llnak of the Lincolnshire Ued Shorthorn Society.

The breed are claimed to In? the, ideal cuttle lor the small fanner. In their native county the extreme vigour of the winters they'have hud to face lias played Nature's inexorable law in weeding out all but the very fittest and strongest. Not stalled, like niosl entile at TTome, they have had to spend their winters in the yards or lolds, with but scanty protection; iiving on barley straw and a few turnips-, and exposed to the coldest of winds and the Hottest of weather. They are turned out about the uiidiiie of April, to ;;el their own living, with the result that the weaklings inevitably go under. In summer tliev must get much of their drinking water from stagnant ponds. For over a hundred years the lted Lincoln* have been undergoing Ihe ordeal of meh conditions, and they have emerged hard as nails, strong as bullocks, and copious milk vieldors. They flesh a little, but do not fatten during, the milking season. At 2.1 veavs old (in England) grass-fed steers." of this breed may be relied upon to yield from S to 10 cwt. of prime beef; ami stall-fed cattle up to 21 cwt. Wise selection and right handling will assist ill a further development of the great milking qualities of (Ids breed: a fact proven by the remarkable successes of Jlr. John Evens in the leading milking trials of England and Ireland, where he beat all other breeds with his Lincoln Beds.

It is therefore claimed on good authority that the reputation of this breed as dual-purpose cattle is well-esbblished; for its steers excel in beef production, and its cows in milk and butter-fat.

The spread of the Lincoln Red has been very marked. ISesides being practicallj the' only breed used in its native- county, there aie reeistered herds in fifteen other counties of England, and in County Down, Ireland. All the principal bntter-making countries of Europe have been importing these animals for years, and each year more and more of them ore being sent to South Africa and Brazil. In 1007 a Lincoln lied bull won the championship ugaiiiit. all comers at the llloemfontein Show. In 1908 H. D. Livingstone, of Mullunibimbv, showed his Linculn Red bull at tho New South Wale? Show (Tho Sydney Royal). It carried oft' first prize for bull shown with throe of its progeny; first for best, bull to set stock for dairy purposes; champion Durham bull, and Grand Championship for the best bull of. anv breed, nil the show ground. after case could be cited where Lincoln Reds have won prizes of groat merit, and have been sold at very hisrh figures indeed. In ISIIS. for instance, tho Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn Association sold 2030 bulls for .ffiC.47o 18s., or an average of ,£25 ss. Sd. In 1909. 238 bulls were, sold at an average of .£2B Gs. Gd.; one of these. Dunsby Red 111, realising IGS guineas. Another bull, Scamton Goldreef, was bought by Jlr. Cockbain. in 19011, for no less Hum 305 The highest price paid for a Lincoln Red bull to date is ,£IOOO.