Types and Breeds of Farm Animals – Book Review

 Types and Breeds of Farm Animals

Written in 1906, “Types and Breeds of Farm Animals” provides a great historical guide to heritage animal breeds.  Most of the breeds listed are still common today, and others are seeing a resurgence in popularity.  Each breed description is roughly 5 pages long, including: Ancestry, History, Temperment, Improvements since the breed began, worldwide distribution, size and characteristics along with information specific to its use.  For example, the Tamworth pig has information on feed conversion, maturation rates, desirability of different cuts based on fat/meat ratio, fecundity, popularity of cross breeds, grazing ability, and criticisms of the breed.  The book focuses on horses, ponies, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs.

Horse Breeds: Arab, Thoroughbred, American Saddle Horse, Roadster Type, American Trotter, Pacer, Orlo
ff Trotter, carriage Horse, Hackney, French Coach, German Coach, Cleveland Bay, Draft, Percheron, French Draft, Clydesdale, Shire, Belgian,
Suffolk, Shetland Pony, Ass, Mule

Cattle Breeds: Shorthorn, Polled Durham, Hereford, Aberdeen Angus, Galloway, Sussex, West Highland, Jersey, Holstein-Friesian, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Dutch Belted, French Canadian, Kerry, Red Polled, Devon, Brown Swiss

Sheep/Goat Breeds: American Merino, Delaine Merino, Rambouillet, Southshire, Shropshire, Oxford Down, Hampshire Down, Dorset Horn, Chevoit, Suffolk DOwn, Tunis, Leicester, Cotswold, Lincon, Kent, Black Faced Highland, Angora Goat, Milch Goat,

Pig Breeds: Berkshire, Poland-China, Chester White, Duroc-Jersey, Cheshire, Victoria, Essex, Small Yorkshire, Suffolk, Large Yorkshire, Tamworth, Hampshire