JERSEY CATTLE.

Patea Mail, 23 January 1882, Page 3

JERSEY CATTLE.

Jersey cattle are little known in this Colony, but most people are aware that this breed is distinguished by delicacy of appearance, and by rich quality of milk. . The Jersey cattle are not suitable for general dairying or grazing purposes, they are to be regarded rather as a luxury, but they are nevertheless kept somewhat extensively both in Great Britain and in America. The history of this breed is interesting, and not without points of practical value to stockowners generally. It has been kept distinct from the French cattle for many generations, acts of the States of Jersey having been passed at different times during the last century and a half prohibiting the introduction of any cow, heifer, calf, or bull from France under a penalty of £200, ; and confiscation of the cattle and the boat in which they were brought over. These acts did not prohibit the importation of English cattle, both Ayrshire and shorthorns having been introduced, but their milk and butter were thought so poor that they were eventually culled out for the butchers, and no further attempts were made to improve the native breed by crossing. The Jersey cattle have, however, been much improved by selection, and have gradually acquired a type distinct from the cattle of the adjacent island of Guernsey, although the cattle of the two islands were originally alike. —Canterbury Times.