Page:The Evolution of British Cattle.djvu/113

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THE MELTING-POT
101

by another breed. Such short-legged cattle are distinguished from ordinary Kerries by being called "Dexters."

Still another case might be quoted. At one time the cattle of Suffolk were hornless and light dun, while their neighbours were horned and red. Breeders preferred the hornlessness of the one breed and the redness of the other. The hornless character is dominant to the horned; consequently, as a result of crossing horned and hornless cattle, there were produced pure hornless cattle, masquerading hornless cattle, and horned cattle; but, by continually selecting hornless ones to breed from, the masqueraders and the horned ones were worked out. When the light dun Suffolks were crossed by red cattle, there resulted yellow intermediate hybrids; but when these were crossed by red cattle, half their progeny were red. By the persistent selection of red-coloured cattle, the original light dun colour and its derivative yellow were eventually worked out. Thus the old Suffolks and their neighbours became one breed: the Suffolks giving up their colour and their neighbours their horns.

It is not necessary for us to consider cases in which three or more characters have been transferred from one breed to another.