The Jersey Cow.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 July 1910, Page 4

The Jersey Cow.

HER VALUE IX THE DA IK

Tito following paper on "The J emsey >a,s it. Dairy Cow" was read I).V .Mr E. Oi'iilit'lis at la.st week's metting of tho New Zealand Jersey CViltlo Mreeders' Association:— No paper under this heading would he complete without some reference to the history or origin of the Jersey cow, because i't.s v-erv history helps to emdblo ns to .appreciate and to understand why the Jousey is such a remarkable dairy cow. For upwards of one hnndre (land twenty years the little island ot Jersey, in the lon<j;lish Obaiiiiiol, has prohibited; the importation of cattle of any kind to its shores, and thereby has very jealously f^iKirded the purity of its strain of dairy cattle. Though they were originated and matnled in the fertile valh'.vs of old .Normandy, they were later transplanted to Jersey, and a writer Kays:---

I There the saino people of sturdy body fliul vigorous brain entcrtnl into a co-partnernhip with tli:it- noblest and most. usi'l'iil ol' so-calli'il brute creation, and in that copartnership have not only .shown the world the possibilities of a sumll pa.tcli of soil, hut have developed a machine that for its contribution to human welfare has never been surpassed." r Dhe Jersey Islanders, realising what ji remarkable .strain of dairy rows they posesssed, set themselves the task of not only maintaining the hi'_ch stall da I'd obtained hv 'prohibiting iin poir tat inns, but of further improving it. l*'or generation after generation (hey studied and practised the riuestioii of selection ind breeding, always aiming .at a hiv/lier butter production. .At the several shows held on the island every year the lew nest competition take* place in the classes for butter production ; the cows are milked on the show grounds, and the milk is care fully weighed and dim mod. These contests show up the heavv butter producers, and their sons naturally become very ponular »iros. Every year this makes a

step in the direction of progress; ('very heifer call' is lire;'! witli the ill iention that she will be a greater producer of butter t! ;tji her dam. and every bull e:ilf in the hep!' that he will lie the sire of greater cnwy than his dam. Is it anv wonder, then, that the?e caret ill. conscientious farmers whn hive their cows lilce Arabs do t-bcir slivds, shrml 1 have been enabled to ici ve In Ihe world tint wonderful (|iieen t f the dairy, the Jrrsev cow? As my paper is entitled the !tJersey as a Dairy Cow," the first noint to _ be made clear is, "What is a dairy row?" To n.s in NVw Zealand she ninst be fa) the most economical producer of milk for mannt'actili'inii: into butter or eliee.s.': (10 a cow which will <rivc the < rre«iitext animal C s d in return to her owner: (c) a cow which will respond to the iiflo dtrealmeiit which is

possible in the rT.i ir V ill sj; lands n! New Zealand : '(1) a cow of sonn: constitution; (e) a cow that can transmit her prolit-i l>!t* f|ii;ilit ie.< to ht'i- offspring with rtasonablc certainty. Tam not considerini.: the (|iic.stion of town milk supply, because tint is such a very small portion of the dairying industry: hut. in. passing. [ would call your iiiitimil ion to the frei|iicncy with which you may notice the hold sign r>u the cards of milk vendors : '"Pure Jersey Milk.' 1 Tfave von ever seen the name of any other hreixl mentioned in this manner? Tho economical j>ro'l iicl.ion of butter-lat is the threat aim of everv dairy man. He is not in the business for >tlio fun of if. TTe is there to link; l monev. and if lie is shown a wav i'f improving his lm'the-dq and incrciMiig ]|j s income he will readily adopt any new co'ir-e which appears re asm-able. But in the matter of the best breed of cows to keep, lite is too short for every larm.T to experiment with all breeds of dairy cows so as to find out which is the. most profitable and therefore In* is dependent upa-n the public tests which have Ik-en held I'o i' this piirpo-e. Without doubt the givatevr breed contest ever held took place at the St. Louis Exhibition in 1 !)()■*). The Shorthorn, the IfoNttin, Brown Swiss and Jersey Societies of America selected the very best animals from their respective breeders. The animals were sent to St. I.ouis. and cared for under most advantageous (■(Hidition.s for 130 days (,I'our months) their milk was weight*:! and tested, and the daily food consumed by each animal recorded. All these records were supervised • by Professor Karrington the result was a neasy win for the Jerseys. They not only produced lar more butter tiian any other breed. li.ut produced their butter at a cost per pauud far below any other breed. A very noticeable feature was it lie rein.'vrl-iiblr manu'ei - in which the Jerseys stuck to their work, some of the cows giving more hul ter during the last ten days of th' l contest than during the first ten days. The result of the downright manner of tin's great Jersey victory has been felt the world over hy an annually greater demand for

good Jcr.vpyK. i The nm?.t up-to-date o/tirvine milntry in tli<> world is Denmark, the homo of the beautiful black and "into cattle: but of bite years .scientific farnuws have realisH''i tlif value of Jersey cattle, and they are mm- replacing linuie-brotJ (•attic with Jerseys at a remarkable I'Hte. Last yonr ( <nr mnre cattle "•(•re exposed from the Island of •Jersey to Denmark than to anv other country. An amusing stor'v indicative of the position in Denmark is told I»y a Jersey breeder n-lio recently visited Denmark at the invitation of .the Jersey Society Uii're. After having 'inspected various Jersey herds the visitor ox-home-bred black and white cattle. Ho was takontothobarn a f ~ 1If)t . '''» breeder, and emild not help eom'"eiitmnr npmi t!|t . | )t , a , lti f ul ' vM . •*«•>" contented appearance of tiro ««■■ l-grooniod cows standi,,.- in their h f ?,° 1 to see the '11 of the herd: The host gave an in vol mi tarv .sm.lo and led the visitor to the large bull boxes. Our ■MojKl was amazed to find two beaubihil Jersey |,„l|. s . ;m ~ . ul then led the visitor to in.spec "w old idea that Jerseys are poor olioato creatures'' )ii.s(it.ut,(>„ w quite exploded, hi Ijntli purebred and grade Jer.sevs are giviiiß excellent results. The armor with his ] lm l of p„rel,r«l and hdfl,r o .d- Jerseys i.s the envy o all lus neighbours. J.fc j s nnfc he cows they are envious nlmiifc, »nt at ,s the monthly ohorpio wlrir.li if draws tkat worries them. Tf long life on-n bo itaken as mi indication of good constitution then Jerseys must be ,a good., hardy ranfor you will f„,.d Jersey cows 13 and 14 years old- in every herd >»|ed„ng am] m ;iking nmif] oalvors. Tins ls the rule-not the exoeptmn. A most notable exampip i« tilvat. of Mr Cornwall's old f-ow Grannie. THioii in her ninetPO,„th yen,- she dronped n l ler ,lthv lierfer oalf, f or Rnmo w mil red over fortv pounds daily And tJiero is every reason why Jersovs slioulrl h« rentable <mkl healthy in their old age. They have Lean bred for it for so many gen- ' erotioiM! that iliov just go on' living and -making profits to fthbir owners '

it s in thoin j and 1 it has to come out 'they can't help it. Of course, when I talk of hardiness >and constitution .1 assume tluit the l cows got reasonable feeding and attention. To I'hu man who literally starves his cows it does not matter what breed of cow he keeps—all will lie alike >to him. With good treatment the .Jersey is as hardy as any other breed for any part of Xew Zealand where dairying is profitably _ carried on. When one hears the Jersey described as delicate, it is either by the man whose experience is limited to one cow or it is 4lie man who does not know how to care for his cows, and as he will not make a success at the business he is bound to quit sooner or Inter, and his opimion does not count. Apart from her productiveness as. a dairy cow, the one element above all others whinh places ithe Jersey on a pedestal by itself is its power to reproduce its profitable finalities in its offspring with reasonable certainty: Tf it were not for tin's act, would _we see the big prices which | are often paid for two or three tested cows ? The explanation of tins hereditary feature is readily lo.iintl in 'the selection of sires for a period of about 200 years, and it is a feature which adds ennrmouslv to the selling value of .all .Jersevs. I.Vt 1., i • ..

Kxtrenio productiveness of occa signal it 11 iin.-ils does not stamp tlu lirrcJ to which it belongs as oapablt ol a hi<j;li jivirago production, ant ii the remarkable performance ol Jacoba. Irene in produciiifi; 112(illif ol bnt.ier in :!!)5 days rerontly wen an isolated case. she lie looked upon ,as a freak, but her authenticated reford is hacked up bv inanv otker very fine performances. During t!ie past twelve months in the f nited Stailes of America alone, ten other Jersey cows have authenticated records of Zoolbs of butter

ill the year and upwards, two of thorn having exceeded IOOOIbs of bmttor each, and doubtless mJany more would have put up erpial records had tlicv been officially tosti'd. Tn Yew Zealand very few \carx records ihave been kept, but tha't we have some good Jbisovs is proven l>y Grannie's Girl's record ol Ihs butter in Mo days. In butter-fat con tests in all pants of the world the Jerseys .show their superiority over othor breeds by securing the greater portion of the prize money, and invariably scouring first honors. I lie siteadilv increasing land nines in New Zealand act as a compelling lorce in directing the farmer to look more closely to his sr.urces o)- profit. He can no longer a fiord to feed and milk cows which do not give a fair value of niillv in return, and he is enquiring ?/ , t ;ll '' ) l nMV P l ." l ' medium of the HabcocK tester just what each cow is paying tor her board. His tMi'lll!rits show him tha.t almost ovorv aninval with Jersey blood in her wins is paying full rates and a handsome profit as u - t ,||. This discovery_ is the cause of the popularity of the Jersey not onTv in •Now Zealand but tlirotigho-ut the dairying world. To sum the Jersey up. she is a specialist par exceliis a manufacturer of butterla f. I