State Agricultural Society. 559 



is left in only fair condition. The evil effects of keeping a calf too fat 

 may not be perceptible in the same animal when grown; but any sys- 

 tem of feeding or breeding should be judged not by its immediate effect 

 upon an individual, but b}^ the consequences upon a whole herd of ani- 

 mals, if that course should be persisted in for a great number of years. 

 The system of feeding adopted cannot be too closely watched. A scant 

 supply will shorten the butter capacity of the herd, while too luxuriant 

 pasture will turn Jerseys into Short-horns. The aim should be to give 

 them such a liberal supply of butter producing food as they can bear 

 without producing fatness. 



There is no point of mere fancy about a Jersey of more importance 

 than the horns. Imported cows and bulls, as seen in this country, have 

 both horns describing similar curves, while with native bred Jerseys it 

 is quite the exception. A yearling's horns should be dressed with a 

 rasp, scraped, oiled, and put in clamps as soon as a tendency to wildness 

 of growth is discovered. 



The subject of acclimating Jerseys in the Southern States needs more 

 light than has yet been shed upon it. I have shipped Jerseys to many 

 of the Southern States for several years past, and none of them have had 

 the fever. I attribute my success, whether correctly or not, to the fact 

 that they were all calves, and raised in thin condition; and I think the 

 least risk will attend such shipments when made in the Autumn, and 

 only calves, thrifty, but thin in flesh, and not over six or eight months 

 of age, are sent. They should be kept out of the hot sun and heavy 

 dews, never allowed to become fat, receiving green food onlj-in Summer, 

 and having always pure water to drink. The trouble is probably more 

 or less local. 



GRADES. 



After a pretty full experience I am prepared to give my unqualified 

 praise to Jersey cross-breeds and grades. The produce from coupling a 

 Jersey bull of good quality with an Ayrshire cow of similar character, 

 is usually an excellent butter cow. So, if native cows of good quality 

 are chosen, the grades from them, by use of a good Jersey bull, may be 

 expected to be superior butter cows. In breeding for grades, the bulls 

 should invariably be thoroughbred. If the native cows are white, black, 

 yellow, or dun color, the offspring resemble thoroughbreds very closely. 



In conclusion, it is safe to state in behalf of this breed of cattle, that 

 the Jersey cow, as a general rule, will yield in a twelvemonth from a 

 third to one half more butter than cows of any other breed. It is there- 

 fore advisable that dairymen whose specialty is butter making, should 

 introduce into their herds Jersey bulls having first-class butter pedigrees, 

 and save the cow calves by these bulls from the best cows in the herd. 

 For private families, nothing is more pleasing to all the members of the 

 family than the fawndike appearance of the young calves or the quaint 

 beauty of the matured cow; while the extraordinary quality of the milk 

 and yeast-like richness of the cream, yielding deep colored and nutty 

 flavored butter, win the never-ending praise of the good housewife. 



