State Agricultural Society. 551 



of pure Jersey stock, and to admit all of those offered for entry which 

 were, on evidence, entitled to registry. 



Many breeders, doubting that the Club's "Register" would ever be- 

 come an important standard, withheld their records, trusting, as before, 

 to their own private evidences of purity of breeding. It had been de- 

 termined, after the publishing of the first volume, to make the rules con- 

 cerning the evidence of importation from Jersey, and of the purity of 

 breeding, much more strict and precise than those previously in force; 

 but breeders became gradually convinced of the importance of registry, 

 and there were constantly presented fresh cases which seemed as worthy 

 of attention as many that had already been admitted, and the doors were 

 kept open still longer, that all might have an opportunity to prove the 

 purity of their herds. After much discussion it was decided that no 

 animal should be admitted without the most absolute evidence in every 

 detail, unless application was made before December thirty-first, eighteen 

 hundred and seventy-two. The number of converts to the value of the 

 "Register " continuing to be large, this limit was extended to December 

 thirty first, eighteen hundred and seventy-three. There had thus been 

 given more than five years, from the time of the commencement of work 

 on the "Register," during which breeders could have the same privi- 

 lege that had been extended to those who first took advantage of the 

 Club's movement. This limit has now been passed, and no reasonable 

 objection can be made to the course pursued. 



The "Register" had become sufficiently known, and ample oppor- 

 tunity had been given to all to avail themselves of its advantages. 

 Henceforth its influence could only be weakened by a further extension 

 of the indulgence; and since the first of January, eighteen hundred and 

 seventy-four, the rules have been so far tightened that it is believed im- 

 possible to secure the entiy of any animal concerning which there is not 

 given such evidence as to make it absolutely certain that imported ani- 

 mals came from the Island of Jersey, and that animals bred in this coun- 

 try have had their whole history so recorded that we can know their 

 distinguishing marks, their breeders, the exact date of their birth, their 

 present and consecutive ownership, and the names and registry numbers 

 of their sires and dams. 



Hereafter no animal can be registered as imported from Jersey which 

 is not proven to be of "Herd Book" stock in the Island of Jersey,. and 

 which is not identified with a photograph taken on the island; no 

 American-bred animal can be registered which is not proven to be the 

 offspring of animals already registered. 



Admitting (which is not likely) that there is a slight infusion of 

 Guernsey or any other blood in the earlier registrations, as every suc- 

 cessive generation will divide the impurity, even this must soon practi- 

 cally disappear, and registry will be an absolutely certain evidence of 

 practical purity. 



The Club is certainly to be congratulated on the success that has at- 

 tended its movements. Its registry is now the standard of pedigree in 

 all parts of the country, and there are few agricultural societies of any 

 importance which admit Jerseys to competition for premiums unless 

 they are entered in the Club's "Register." 



The usefulness will be much increased by the recent rule of the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee, that all applications for entry shall bear the certifi- 

 cate of the breeder, and that the breeder shall be recorded, either in the 

 body of the work or the list of transfers, as the owner of the dam at 

 the time she became preguant with the animal offered for entry. This 



