JERSEY ESSAYS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4376, 10 February 1922, Page 1

JERSEY ESSAYS.

i PAEBOA SCHOOL WINNERS. i . . I ■ - The winners of the essay on Jersey cattle, in connexion with the Jersey demonstration held at Paerda some time ago, under the auspices of the Thames Valley Jersey Breeders’ Club,, have been declared by Mr E. J. Walters, of Hikutaia, who, with Mr ' W. J. Hall, Matatoki, judged the esi says. Mr Walters sent the following covering letter to the president of the club (Mr W. J. Hall, of Matatoki) on the essays: “I have examined the essays as requested, and "have picked put two which I consider should have first and second place,'respectively. There were altogether about twenty-one essays, and all were worth reading, but | some of the waiters; did, not. confine I their remarks to the subject as it was presented at the demonstration. These I have disregarded.. I maintain that we require the essay giving the best report of the demonstration and wlhat the writer learned there. To that end I have not noticed mistakes in spelling, nor peculiarity of handi writing and neatness of arrangement I have based my opinion on the matter each essay contains and which I know was submitted either by yourself or by me at the meeting. I' award first prize to Ivan Hall, Mill Road, Paeroa, and second to Jessie . Ellis, Paeroa High School.” The first-prize essay (Master Ivan Hall, Mill Ropd, Paerpa) reads as follows. It may be mentioned that the lad is no relation whatever, to Mr j W. J. Hall or his family:

FIRST PRIZE. It is only fair to remark that at Paeroa the competition was open co High School pupils, whilst at other centres the competitors were of the primary schools only. Far away in the sunny Channel Islands, where the gardens abound in flowers and vegetables? is the home of the Jersey cow. The Jersey cow, as the name infers, comes from the island of Jersey. Many of the other islands also indulge in cattle breeding, but they all have a different breed. The island of Jersey is only twelve miles by six miles, and yet great numbers of cattle are bred there. Every person has a small holding and keeps a few pure-bred Jerseys, and it is from these, and gardening, that they derive their in-, comes. The cows are not allowed to roam at will over the meadows, like ours, but are tethered, and thus they are always having a change- of pas-

ture, which is good for For the last two hundred years no cow, no matter how good it is, alter it has left the island is allowed to come back. The consequence is that the breed has been kept pure. I shall now say something abouc the cow herself.. As the first and most essential qualification, she should have a good and sound constitution. Such a constitution is indicated by strong lungs, plenty of heart room so that the heart can work freely. The ribs are broad and well 'spread, and the breathing should be slow and regular. A perfectly healthy cow has a good appetite, and a strong desire to drink, which a large yield of milk always stimulates. The mouth is large and broad an’d the lower jaw should be strong, for the cow does 1 not nip the grass like the horse, but J curls her tongue round it, and pushes with the, lower jaw and pulls at the same tipie. The eye is prominent and should be bright and sparkling, but not have a wild, frightened look in it. Between the eyes is a hol- . low, but as the nose comes &ut it disappears, and, so .that the cow can ' breathe plenty of fresh air, the nos- . trils should be large and broad.. The horns are of a yellowish colour, small, j and turned inwards. There is a way ‘ of training the horns inwards, but as they have to pay for it, none of the breeders will tell how it is done.* The ears are fairly long, soft, and the inside is coated with light yellow, silky hair. The form of the barrel should he large, and she should be well formed across the hips, and in the rump. The rump should be heavy and the pelvis large. The skin on the rump and all over the body is loose,' flexible, mellow to the touch, and covered with smooth, glossy hair. The greater the distance between the pin bones and the hip bones, and the pin bones themselves, the better, for the udder is hung between them, and of course it is wanted as large'as possible. If the pin bones are close together the legs are close together, and when the cow walks they will rub the udder and make it sore. The tail should be rather thick at' the setting on, but tapering and thin at the end, and the brush’ as long as possible. The stump of the tail should at least reach the hock.

The udder is of special importance. It should be large in proportion to the size of the cow and its skin soft. Therfe should be soft, loose folds ex-> tending away back, so that the udder can expand when wanted. Some cows have more than four teats, but four is the proper number, and they should be well spread and riot too large. The udder should not dangle low down in

the mud, but should be wide and run

more along, underneath the cow. The Jersey cow is an ideal dairy cow. She is much prized for her rich milk, and as she is not a large cow she does not eat very much, and is, therefore, very economical. The cows are coloured all varieties of fawn, and with their fine, well-taade bones they look very picturesque. The Jersey cow has done very well all over the world, and I am sure no one regrets its importation into New Zealand. ♦Judges’ note : Any breeder will tell you how to train a heifer’s horns. There is no secret in it. SECOND PRIZE.

The following is second prize winning essay, by Miss Jessie Ellis IBVa years. Paeroa High School: Among the many breeds bf cattle found all over the world the Jersey is perhaps the favourite. It is well known that the Jersey cow comes from the island healing the same name, Jersey Island, which lies, together with three other similar islands, in. the English Channel. The chief exports of these islands are flowers, agricultural products, anti cattle. The people of Jersey devote themselves almost entirely to the breeding of the Jersey cow. For t,wo hundred years no other cow has been allowed on the island, except for beef purposes, and if pnee a epw had been taken away it was never allowed to go back again, no matter hpw good or valuable it was. Thus the Jersey cow has been kept pure. Quarterly shows were held on the island, enlisting friendly competition and thus raising the already high standard of the cow. It is known, too, that high prices have often been paid for a cow op the island, even as much as three thousand pounds being given for one animal. There, on the island, the cow is tethered and not allowed loose, as ours are. Hence the quiet and gentle cow. When choosing a good dairy cow many points must be dealt with, the first being, the constitution. It must have plenty of heart room and *a large muzzle in order that it may inhale a plentiful supply of pure air. A strong under-jaw, good, prominent eyes, and well turned in horns are other good points -to be taken into account, The bpdy of the cow should be long, the face not t t,oo long, while the nostrils should be large and wide. The top line should be knotty and straight, a curved one being an unfavourable feature, while the shoulders should be thin and the hips sharp. The udder is another very important point to be dealt with. It should be well formed and not pendulous underneath-. The milk veins on the udder should be large and prominent. The milk-wells ought to be - deep, the deeper the better. There is no estabi lished colour for a Jersey, although red is rarely found. The commonest colours are the many varieties of fawn. The yellow colour of the skin beneath the coating of hair is an inidication of a healthy condition. It has often been found that the Jersey cow generally fulfils many of these points. Thus we find that the Jersey is the most economical- cow, for it is easily fed, easily managed, and produces a greater amount of butter-fat( th,an any other cow.

MATATOKI DEMONSTRATION. The following are the winners of the Matatoki demonstration essays. The first prize was won by Miss Mavis Hall, Matatoki (Kopu school), and the second by Master Jack Muir, of Kopu. Messrs Walters and Buchanan were,the judges: FIRST PRIZE. Last Friday, October 28, a Jersey demonstration was held at Mr Hall’s place, Matatoki. The Kopu and Puriri school pupils, attended the demonstration, and there were a few of the farmers that live in the district also present. Before commencing the demonstrai tion Mr Hall gave a short address on the history of the Jersey cpw. The testing of, the milk, which l was the first thing to take place, was done by Mr Hall. First of all the milk which was to be tested was weighed when the cows were milked, and then a little milk preserver was added, so as to keep the milk fresh, and then it was measured with a pipette and put into sample bottles. After that was done a little sulphuric acid was added, so as to dissolve the solids that are in the milk. Then it was gently shaken round in revolutions, but not up and down. After that the samples were put into the Babcock tester and tur,ned for five minutes, eighty turns or revolutions to the minute. Then the samples were taken out of the tester and a little warm water was added, so as to make the fat rise. After the water was added the samples were put into the tester again and turned ;for another minute and then a little more warm water was added, so as to make the tests clearer and then they were put back into tha tester and turned until the fat had had time to rise up into the neck of the bottle. After that had been done the bottles were taken out of the tester and the tests were read off by means of a compass. You could tell the tests without a compass by just counting up the numbers on the bottle that the fat covered, but with a compass it is much easier. To And how much butter-fat a cow gives for a year you must .weigh the milk that the cow gives for each day and then you must get your cows tested about once a month. To get your cows testi ed by the Government it cost you five guineas a year for each cow. Then there was a demonstration by Mr Buchanan on the points by which

we judge the Jersey cow. There are three things a cow must have, which are constitution, capacity, and conformity to type, or, as Mr , Buchanan said, the three C’s. Nearly every breed of cattle ihas practically the same points to judge bySome of the points by which we judge the Jersey cow are: It should have a deep body ; it should have a fairly long neck, prominent eyes, broad mouth', strong jaw, dished face, fine ears ; there should be a narrow space between the horns, and the horns should be curved inwards, and the shoulders should be wide, so as to allow plenty of room for the heart. Other points are that the cow should have a straight back line, and from hips to pin-bone should be straight. Its hips should be wide, so as you can almost hang your hat on them, and it should have a knotted backbone. Its skin should be loose, and it should have a soft and mellow feel* ing. It should have loose skin at the udder, so as to allow the udder tp expand.. Its udder should be nearly square, and the teats should be level and should have about six inches space between them. There should also be plenty of room between the back legs for the udder, and the Cow sjiould not cross its ■ back legs when it is walking. The cow should have a fine boned tail, and the tail should be fairly long, with a good brush. The cow’s thigh should be well arched. It should 'have large milk wells and milk veins.

Mr Buchanan brought the demonstr,ation to an end by inquiring if anybody wanted tp know anything, and after he had answered the questions that had been asked him he thanked the children and all who were present for being so quiet and paying so much attention to what had been said. Then, to' finish up with, three cheers were given for the members of the Club. SECOND PRIZE. Last. Friday, October 28, at Matatoki, in Mr Hall’s paddock, Mr Hall and Mr Buchanan held a demonstran tion on Jersey cattle. The upper classes of the Kopu and Puriri schools had a halh-holiday sp that they might be present. I rode a horse and dbublebanked another boy there and back. Mr Hall, who had three lovely Jersey cows in the padlock, began the lecture by telling us the history of the Jersey, and that once a cow or bull leaves Jersey it is never allowed, to come back, so that the cattle in Jersey are kept very pure. Mr Hall showed us sample bottles filled with, that morning's milk from six different cows. In the morning, when the milk was fresh, some potash had been added to preserve it. To this he now added some sulphuric acid and then shook it with a circular motion. He placed these six bottles in a circular box about two feet in diameter with a handle to turn it like a churn. He then put the lid on and turned the hapdle at a rate of eighty revolutions per mln-, ute. He next took off the lid and put enough hot water in each of the test bottles to bring the butter-flat into the neck of the bottle, so that the amount may be ascertained. When the lid of the testing machine was taken off we noticed that the testing bottles were facing the centre,.

Mr Buchanan, who next spoke, told how to choose a good cow. He told us three points of great importance, called constitution, capacity, and conformity to type, generally known as the three C’s, were the things to consider, when buying cows; A good cow shpuldx have a wide muzzle, and a strong jaw so as to be able to chew properly a large amount of green food. The eyes should be’ bright, while, Mr Buchanian said, the forehead should be dished well, so that you can fit a soup plate in between the eyes. Its shoulders should ue shar p at the' top, broadening out as it comes down the sides. AH good cows should have a large depth of body, so as to give the heart and lungs plenty of room.’ The back should be broad and the backbone knotted, while the skin should be loose. The udder should be big, with large milk veins, while the teats should be ! about six inches apart, and there should be plenty of loose skin so as to allow the udder to expand.

[The above was written on 'both sides ofi the paper, whereas such work should be done on one side only. —Ed. “Gazette.”]