Title: Dartington Hall Cattle Breeding Centre Archive
Level: Collection
Ref No: CBC/
Extent: 10 boxes
Dates: 1927-2001

Description: Records of the Dartington Hall Cattle Breeding Centre (DHCBC). The centre was established and financed by Leonard Elmhirst and Sir George Hayter-Hames in 1943 and licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. It provided an artificial insemination service for cattle in certain areas of Devon and Cornwall. Profits from the service were used for research into cattle breeding problems. DHBRC records in this series were gathered by Peter Sutcliffe through his role as chairman of the centre, and by Leonard Elmhirst through his role as promoter. Records document the establishment, development, and activities of the DHCBC, and its branches in South-East Cornwall, Liskeard, and Tavistock, and at the Progeny Testing Station.

South Devon bull about 1927Subjects include: Thomas Scott's survey of the South Devon breed of dual-purpose cattle, 1927; the South Devon Bull Recording Scheme; the first experiment in England with the artificial impregnation of cattle, carried out on the Dartington estate and the future development of the scheme; a Central Advisory Committee on Artificial Insemination; the purchase, AI service, particulars, testing, and use of semen charges, and the sale of bulls; an International Congress of Physiology and Pathology of Animal Reproduction and of Artificial Insemination; meetings of the DHCBC Board of Management; DHCBC investments; infertility in cattle; the establishment and development of a Progeny Testing Station; and the National Agricultural Advisory Service.