THE JERSEY STILL ON TOP.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1918, Page 7

THE JERSEY STILL ON TOP.

To the Editor. , Sir,—When Mr. Muir's letter of the list ult. appeared in the columns of your valuable paper, 1 thought heie is 1 .an honest' man with a belief in his i'riesiaw 'cattle out to give or gain information, and as lie had challenged me personally by mentioning my name in his letter, I willingly took up the gauntlet. I answered Mr. Muir's question and gave facts and figures in suppott of my contentions, but, unfortunately Mr.Moir seemed unable to grasp their purport. Either that or else he deliberately misconstrued them, and, after -making some most contradictory statement*, he questions the autll ™ | citv, -nav.-the honesty, of the Ohio A„u cultural" Experiment Station offlc ' a^ b ' saving: "The Yankees have the name ta- being - able to fake these sort of tests'" Pir. I submit that it is a la menteble sign.of weakness on »« ! part to be tire first to quote Yanke 1 figures* in this controversy in support of j lii* Eriesian arguments, and.be I>£ T f cct - \nllin" to have people believe that Ins i facts '"and figures culled from "Tcankee 1 sources are indisputable evidence in : support of his side of the question; and I then, when,l quote "Yankee-figures up- ! netting all''his fine theories, apd leaving him barren of argument. to : turn around and »av: "The "Yankees' have-the ninno, for being able to fake these sort of. i tests!" Sir, -I . would appeal to Mr ; Mirirs "finer instincts, and. ask lum to ' try and avoid the. nrad-riingto?, abusive tactice, adopied by a <orTes,poni dent on tMa subject and to adopt the I more flignWed attitude of reaming this ' matter out in a logical niMnjet.. .facts figures

law tem submitted to the public prov , aig the Jersey to be the champion ; -nonucal producer of the dairy world, and, so far, no serious attempt W been I fcsP™* her claim to this proud 'distinction. Tho latest figures "in regard to the respective ir .-(s of the Jerseys and Friesians are supplied by tiie Ohio Agricultural E.-.periment Station, as stated by mo in my last letter appearing in your issue of the 2nd inst and those figures carry conviction with them, for tho experiments were conducted under the only possible conditions for making a fair comparison of the breeds -i.e., same climate, same handling, cost of feed taken into consideration, and net profit Rhown, and the experiment coneneed i*'"® s "P cl ' viai °n of experiil l 3 1' " Me ' l of)ldals wll ° were h'niplt seeking to prove from an educational standpoint which was the better p™ t , V he . dail >' fftrmp r to take up or the benefit of Mr. Muir, I would ike to quote the result of that experiment again:- The test covered a period of one yew-, and ail average of 157 JerinI S +f n 4 131 - Ho! ' stein3 WCTe on test duroUi a ff ,(HL Thn JerM .w warned of tlr >' matter and 19.621b of dlTl and the Ho'steins eon- " l m ® d of tlr .v matter and 20.341b of digestible nutrients for each pound nf fat produced. The .Jerseys prototal solids on a total of 16j461b of digestible nutrients consumed. Tho Uolstains produced tl.'lfiTb of total solids on a ration of I3.fl*?lb of digestible nutrients consumed. Per 1000!b of live weight, the .Jerseys eonsurned 19.0 per cent, more drv matter, ■13.2 per cent, more digestible nutrients, snd produced l.e per cent- more milfc,' •" Per «nt. more solids, and 59.3 per cent- more fat than the Holstoins." Now, p-'r, Mr. Muir claims .that in the test just quoted the Holsteina were starved ond a "half-starved cow cannot be exported to produce milk in proportion to ■icr ?, ze as economically as a, well-fed one can" Ye gods and little fishes! Jiie Holstoins consumed, mark you 40.421b dry matter and 50.341b of digestible nutrients for each pound of fat produced, against 30.221b' of dry matter and J!).(Sib of digestible nutrients ■ consumed by the Jersey, and yet Mr. Muir claims that either the "figures quoted by mo are wrong or else the llolstems were "half-starved"! What an appetite tho Holsteins must have! No wonder the average dairy farmer cannot afford to keep the big black and white cow! No wonder lirg 0 numbers of our dairy farmers maintain that vou can *eep three Jerseys for # the same cost of upkeep as two Holsteins. There are few farms m Taranaki suitable for carrying Friesian cattle, and they would Hive bigger returns if the big-framed, big-eatmg, heavy-walking Friesians were replaced by the economical little Jersey, for although tho Jersey can beat all-comers under ordinary circumstances, still, as Mr Muir so kindly points out in his letter, "Good conditions favor the Jersey," and although she does not eat the "large quantities of grass," that her big-framed rival with the enormous appetite does, she "gets there," as our American friends say, and "delivers the goods." The Jersey does not eat so much as the Friesian, neither does she knock the pasture about so severely as her heavy rival, and at the end of" the vear there is a larger neft profit- showing than is the case with the big cow. By keeping Jerseys tho dairy farmers increase the carrying capacity of the land, for he will run at least five Jerseys where he ran four Friesians, and each Jersey will show a .areater nett profit over the year's work than will the Friesian. Thig is not guess work, but has been proved time after time, and I ask Mr Muir, Can he quote any official or authentic figures to prove that tbe Friesian has ever beaten the Jersey for economical production of either milk, butterfat, casein or sugar of milk? If not, his claim that the Friesian is the economical producer of solids par excellence is of no value whatsoever, and tho Jersey remains where she has for so long a time belonged—on top! In reference to 'Mr Muir's statement that "the Jersey cow is a more delicate ] bleed." I would Gay this has no foundation in fact. The Friesian is certainly a bigger cow than tho Jersey, but she is not a healthier or more vigorous cow. The Jersey is small-honed and fine-skin-ned, but she lias a great fund of vitality and will withstand severe climatic conditions along with the next cow. She will also combat disease with the best of them, and in this connection let me quote the Hon. Duncan Marshall, Minister of Agriculture for the Province of Alberta, Canada. He says: "We have six farms, and we test for tuberculosis every six months- We have never had a single Jersey re-act, and it is the ouly. breed that has never had a re-action to the tuberculosis test with us. We have also Holsteins, Ayrshire?, milking Shorthorns, etc." That, Sir, is very fine to the ability of the Jersey to withstand disease, and tends to ■ show tl/.t a huge frame is not a ne- , cessary adjunct of a good constitution 1 In conclusion, I would say that while I love the Jersey cow for her beauty and intelligence and for her responsiveness to kind treatment and intelligent handling. still I am not in the business purely from sentiment, but for profit as well, and if the Friesian appealed to me as a more profitable investment than tho Jersey I would have tho Friesian, but, Sir, the weight of evidence is al with the .Jersey—So, Here's to the Queen of the Dairy—The Jersey Cow! Oh we'll sure allow that the black and white cow Of the Friesian breed was good, That she earned her feed and she didn't need To be tied up where she stood; That sho'd eat the farmer's slops or his turnip tops Or the washing on tho line! And ho'd surely rave o'e_r the froth she gave •On the milk which he thought was fine. But the Friesians' days, like the worn out ways Of the days that are past and gone, Should be ended now, for a Jersey cow Is the cow that lie's banking on. For the Jersey's neat and she doesn't put The half by a ton or two That the Friesian got iu the old ford lot _ f In winters liko we ve just .pawl through ■ " I And the .milk lio'll get is hot' As rich as the Friesian's cream Oh, the Jersey's the cow for the fanui-v now And her calf is a lovely dream! With apologies to some unknown i'""t —I am, etc., FRANK RA'WFdH'-T Stratford, 10th September. 181$.