Much of the early improvement work took place
in the counties of Northumberland, Durham and York.
The first importation of Shorthorns to the United
States was in 1783, when 'Milk Breed' Shorthorns came to Virginia. These
early importations, often referred to as 'Durhams', became favorites
of the pioneer, furnishing meat, milk and power.
Shorthorns, the most numerous in the British
Isles, America and Australia, are either red, red and white, white or
roan, the last named color being a very close mixture of red and white,
and found in no other breed of cattle.
Origin, History and Development
Into the North Sea, on the east coast of England
just north of the bulge toward Europe, a river, the Tees, empties. It
was along this river that the Shorthorn breed was developed.
The earliest knowledge of the forerunners to
the breed is word of mouth, that for two hundred years before 1780,
there were short horned cattle on the Yorkshire estates of the Dukes
and Earls of Northumberland. Shorthorn stock had been in the herds of
Smithsons of Stanwick since the middle 1600's.
Several men helped to bring the breed to its
present high standard of perfection by selecting animals that were best
suited to meet the demands of practical farmers.
In Shorthorn history, the names of Bates, Booth
and Cruickshank are noted. Bates and Booth were Englishmen who developed
what are usually referred to as 'English Shorthorns.'
Cruickshank was a Scotchman who developed the
'Scotch Shorthorns.' The Bates type of Shorthorns were noted for their
style and good milking qualities. Cruickshank's cattle were thicker,
blockier, and meatier.
Most of the early importations of Shorthorns
to America came from English herds and were of the Bates and Booth types;
those that came directly from the Bates herd or descendants of that
herd had very good milking qualities.
As explained, the Milking Shorthorn is not a
separate and distinct breed, but rather a segment of the Shorthorn breed.
The pedigrees of both the Milking Shorthorn and the scotch Shorthorn
trace to the same foundation animals if carried to breed origin.
Shorthorns Enter USA in 1783
An unknown number of both types, the milk breed
and the beef breed, were brought from England by a Mr. Gough of Maryland
and his partner, a Mr. Miller of Virginia. Importations continued during
the early 1800's and the breed moved into New York, Kentucky, Ohio and
deeper into the Midwest.
The first herd west of the Mississippi River
is reported to have been established by N. Cooper on his Ravenswood
Farm in Missouri in 1839. Today, Milking Shorthorns are found in almost
every area of the United States.
It should be gratifying to anyone interested
in Milking Shorthorns to learn how much the breed contributed to the
livelihood of our nation. Its hardiness, wide range of adaptation and
efficiency of production provided milk, meat and transportation for
our pioneers. The breed's many attributes continue to provide a livelihood
for the breeders of today.
A Versatile Breed
The Milking Shorthorn breed is the most versatile
of all breeds and this is one of its greatest attributes. These docile
cows efficiently produce large volumes of nutritious milk each lactation
and are large enough to have a high salvage value when their long productive
lives finally come to an end.
In addition, their healthy calves born each year
on regular calving intervals are spunky at birth, grow rapidly, and
those not kept for breeding stock and herd replacement make efficient
gains and hang very desirable grading carcasses.
Other attributes of the breed include ease of
calving, ease of management and economy of production, especially on
home produced roughages and grass.
One of the first official demonstrations of
the production ability of Milking Shorthorns was made at the World's
Exposition in Chicago in 1893 where two of the leading cows of the test
were Kitty Clay 3rd and Kitty Clay 4th, the latter standing third in
net profit over all breeds.
These sister cows became the foundation for the
Clay cow family of Milking Shorthorns, developed at Glenside Farm, Granville
Center, Pennsylvania.
Milking Shorthorns in the USA
Breeders began recording their Shorthorn cattle
in 1846 with the first volume of the American Herdbook. In 1882, the
American Shorthorn Breeders' Association was formed to register and
promote both Milking and Scotch (beef) Shorthorns.
In 1912, a group of Milking Shorthorn breeders
organized the Milking Shorthorn Club to work within the framework of
ASBA. Its membership was interested in advertising the good milk qualities
of the breed by keeping official milk records and encouraging breed
improvements.
The American Milking Shorthorn Society (AMSS)
incorporated in 1948 and took over the registration and promotion of
Milking Shorthorns.
In April 1950, the Milking Shorthorn office moved
from Chicago to Springfield, Missouri. Milking Shorthorns were declared
a dairy breed in 1969 and in 1972 became members of the Purebred Dairy
Cattle Association. The Society national office moved to its present
home, Beloit, Wisconsin in 1986.
Milking Shorthorn breeders in the USA have many
opportunities for improving the genetics of their animals by participating
in the breed's official production testing, type trait appraisal, gain
performance, national shows and breed promotion programs.
Breeders can use semen from the breed's highest
proven bulls. Semen of high genetic value is also available from carefully
selected young sires approved by the Young Sire Committee.
Also, two grade-up programs make it possible
for anyone to bring outstanding neglected purebreds back into the Official
Herd Book and to introduce the best of other internationally recognized
high producing breeds into a program with rigid requirements.
It is a fact that no breed has made greater
improvement during the past 15 years and even greater increases are
expected in the future. Milking Shorthorns have become more dairy and
more angular and improved udder quality.
Anyone having the opportunity to observe recent
national Milking Shorthorn shows can not help but be impressed by the
number of superior individuals presented which were bred by breeders
from coast to coast.
References:
American Milking Shorthorn Society, P.O. Box
449, Beloit, Wisconsin 53512-0449. Phone: (608) 365-3332
Photographs:
Hoards Dairyman, Fort Atkinson, WI
