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Original
Article About Dexters
"The
Dexter in History: Part Three
Breed Recognition"
by Beverley McCulloch and Michael Trotter
A revised version of an article first published in
the Dexter Dispatch, Bulletin of the NZ Dexter Cattle Society, no.
32, May 2001, pages 19-21
This third instalment is again taken from a 1912 article on Irish cattle
written by Professor James Wilson, Royal College of Science, Dublin. The
extract given here comprises Wilson’s own observations on Dexters generally,
and particularly on their establishment as a recognized breed in Great
Britain.
All of the following is from Irish Cattle by James Wilson (1912):
“In spite of, or perhaps because of, their long career of suppression
leading almost to extinction, the Kerrys and Dexters have retained their
outstanding and most valuable characteristics. Youatt called them the poor
man’s cow. They are still that and much more. They are any man’s cow: the
poor man’s and the rich: the cow to do well upon poor fare, and better upon
rich. They are hardy, good feeders, gentle, great milkers, and
excellent fatteners. They have always been in the small farmer’s hands – in
the hands of men whose farms were never highly productive either in quantity
or quality, and whose support has been drawn for centuries from butter and
young cattle. It followed as a matter of course that an unprofitable cow was
one of the first to join the grazier’s drove. That being so, a cow has ‘been
evolved which compares with any of the dairy breeds in the quantity of milk
produced to the quantity and quality of food consumed, and is beaten by the
Jersey alone for quality. Under good treatment an ordinary Kerry or Dexter
weighing 6 or 7 cwt. may be expected to give from 450 to 550 gallons of
milk, containing not less than 4 per cent of butter fat, during a season’s
milking. Cows have been reported to have gone beyond 1,000 gallons.
'Kerry' cow, Walton Bashful, 1908
(Photo accompanying Professor Wilson's
article)
Threatened at one time with extinction, the Kerry breeds have made a
wonderful recovery, aided no doubt by the rising demand for dairy products
during the last half-century. Kerrys were admitted first to the Royal Dublin
Society’s shows in 1844. A separate class was provided for Dexters in 1876.
In January, 1877, the Farmers’ Gazette, an Irish agricultural
journal, issued the first Register of Pure Kerry Cattle and Dexters, the
rights of which were taken over by the Royal Dublin Society when three
volumes had been published. In these three volumes, 100 Kerry cows, 46 Kerry
bulls, and 10 Dexter cows were entered. Since taking over the Register in
1890, the Royal Dublin Society has seen to the registration of Kerrys and
Dexters, and has published annually The Kerry and Dexter Herd Book. A
quarter of a century ago the two breeds began to find their way into
England, chiefly through the instrumentality of the late Mr. James Robertson
of La Mancha, Malahide, County Dublin. At the Royal Agricultural Society’s
show at Norwich in 1886, Mr. Robertson was awarded second prize for a
three-year-old Dexter (Silene) in the class for ‘Cows or Heifers of any
other breed’. At the Newcastle show next year a class was opened for Kerry
(including Dexter-Kerry) bulls, and another for cows or heifers. Two years
later at Windsor separate classes were established for Kerrys and Dexters,
since which time both breeds have increased in England rapidly.
But there is a possibility that the great success of the two breeds in
England may lead to their eclipse in Ireland – to the transfer of their
centre of gravity from Ireland to England. Already it has led to the
formation of a new society in England – the English Kerry and Dexter Cattle
Society (1892) – and to the starting of a second herd book, The English
Kerry and Dexter Herd Book (1900).
By the Royal Dublin Society’s regulations, animals might enter their herd
book through three different channels:—
(a) By descent from animals already entered.
(b) By gaining ‘a Prize or Commendation at any Show held in the United
Kingdom, where there is a separate classification for Kerrys and Dexters,
provided that the Royal Dublin Society shall nominate the Judges at such
Show, and that they comply with the following conditions as to colour:—
‘Kerry Bulls shall be pure black, with the exception of a few grey hairs
about the organs of generation in animals of exceptional merit.
‘Kerry Cows and Heifers must be pure black with the exception of a small
portion of white on the udder in animals of exceptional merit.
‘Dexter Bulls and Cows may be either black or red, with a little white.’
(c) By inspection. Once a year, meetings were held at certain centres in the
Kerry county, where animals were brought for inspection by gentlemen
appointed by the Royal Dublin Society, and such cattle as were up to the
standard as laid down for the show yard were admitted to the herd book.
Admission by inspection and shows ceased in 1899 for bulls and in 1904 for
cows. But as the doors leading into the Royal Dublin Society’s Herd Book
from the show and inspection channels were closed, doors were opened to the
English herd book from the same channels. Thus unregistered cattle may still
enter a herd book, but it must be an English one. The English society
appointed their own inspectors, and stipulated that they should nominate the
judges to shows at which prize animals might qualify for registration. The
English society’s regulations in the matter of colour are a little
different.
The following are taken from the [English] Society’s ‘standard
descriptions’: The Kerry cow must be black, but ‘a small amount of white on
the udder and under line not to disqualify’. ‘The bull should be whole
black, without a white hair.’ Dexters may be ‘whole black or whole red (the
two colours being of equal merit)’. In a bull, ‘a little white on organs of
generation not to disqualify an animal which answers all other essentials of
this standard description’. A cow may be ‘black with white on the udder, or
red with white on bag. The extension of the white of the udder slightly
along the inside of flank or under side of the belly, or a little white on
end of tail, shall not be held to disqualify an animal which answers all
other essentials of this standard description.’
Justification for continuing the system of entrance by inspection and shows,
and therefore for the action of the English society, might be found in the
fact that many unregistered Kerrys and Dexters are still bred and will
continue to be bred in Kerry which are equal in merit to animals in either
herd book. And so long as the stock of registered Kerrys and Dexters is
unequal to the demand, there is a field for the non-pedigree breeders in the
ancestral home of the breeds…”
On to Part Four
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