558 Transactions of the 



the cow. 



In selecting a Jersey cow, the first object to be taken in view is her 

 capacity for producing a large yearly yield of butter; and to the breeder 

 it is not only important that she should be a typical or representative 

 cow, but should have the capacity to reproduce her good qualities in her 

 offspring. In her general structure all the good points of her breed 

 should be fairly represented. She should possess, if possible, all the 

 points prescribed in the scale of points, and should of course have an 

 unimpeachable pedigree. Fortunately, it no longer requires the national 

 reputation of a breeder to give currency to a pedigree. A bona fide 

 number from the "Herd Register" of the American Jersey Cattle Club 

 stamps the article as genuine. 



Colonel I^e Couteur tells us: -'The north and northwest coast of Jer- 

 sey is high and precipitous; a bold, syenite rock rising two hundred and 

 more feet from the level of the sea." Peculiar to this district are the 

 small, fine limbed, hard}" cattle. "The southward half of Jersey may 

 be called an inclined plane, gradually and beautifull}' slanting to the sea- 

 shore, watered by innumerable streams." To this section belong those 

 animals larger in carcass, and thought by some to be handsomer and 

 more delicate. Hence in this country we remark two prevailing types 

 of Jerseys. One is generall} 7 of light yellow color, with considerable 

 white, rather waxy horns, sometimes buff noses, and rather large and 

 coarse in the general make-up. The other type is smaller, with rather 

 fine bones, generally of darker color and black points, small, smooth 

 horns with black tips. 



There is no choice between them as butter producers. There is much 

 diversity of opinion upon the subject of the correlation between the 

 perineum, or, as it is commonly called, the escutcheon or milk-mirror, 

 and the activity of the milk-secreting glands. Very few, if any. modern 

 writers upon cattle have accepted the complicated theory of Guenon, 

 while no two of them agree as to the exact value of the escutcheon. As 

 a point of beauty it should certainly be cultivated in the herd. As to 

 its practical value for indicating the milking qualities of the cow, my 

 experience is that a finely developed escutcheon is rarely seen on a small 

 milker, while many excellent milkers have veiy small or no escutcheon 

 at all. In other w T ords, its presence is a good sign, while its absence is 

 not necessarily a cause for distrust. Milk veins, as an indication of 

 milking capacity, are of about the same value as the escutcheon. 



A Jersey udder should be square and well tucked up, not pendulous, 

 and extend well forward along the body. All four sections should be of 

 equal capacity. Such an udder is comfortable to the cow, and gives 

 symmetry to this the most important part of her body. The teats 

 should be set wide apart, and be of sufficient length and softness to be 

 easily milked. There is no greater defect in a dairy cow than a short, 

 hard teat. 



CALVES. 



The most approved plan for raising calves is to take them from the 

 dams when four or five da}*s old, teach them to drink, and feed them 

 fresh milk from the cow, gradually adding sweet skimmed milk, and, as 

 the fresh milk is abandoned, adding ground cooked food. After the calf 

 is four or five weeks old, the rich food should gradually be supplanted 

 by muscle-forming food, until the calf-fat has disappeared, and the calf 



