Rural School Leaflet 857 



LESSONS ON THE COW 



I. THE COLORS OF COWS 



E. S. Savage 



URE-bred cows constitute only about 1.5 per 

 cent of the cows raised in New York State. 

 This number should be increased, for it costs 

 T^l-,~f" ^° niore to keep pure-bred animals than grade 

 -.if' ZJ» animals; and the profit from pure-bred animals 

 \[ I is Hkcly to be larger than that from grades. 



Furthermore, it is a great satisfaction to own a fine, 

 pure-bred herd of cows. Let us teach boys and girls 

 to recognize the four leading dairy breeds of cattle and 

 the four leading beef breeds. The lessons will give some 

 interesting study in color and in markings, and the young 

 persons will make a beginning on observation of cattle in 

 the neighborhood. 



The four great dairy breeds in New York State, in order of numbers 

 of cows, are the Holstein-Friesian, called simply Holstein, the Jersey, the 

 Guernsey, and the Ayrshire. The color of the pure-bred animals in each 

 of these breeds is always the same within rather narrow limits. A pure- 

 bred Jersey would never be mistaken for a Holstein or an Ayrshire, and 

 very rarely indeed would she be mistaken for a Guernsey by any one with 

 any real knowledge of the breeds. 



This color characteristic is the one, perhaps, which is m.ost surely 

 transmitted from father and mother to offspring among pure-bred animals. 

 Among grade animals, the color, in most cases, will be that of the breed 

 of which the grade animal carries the most blood. 



We may first discuss the color of each of the separate dairy breeds, 

 and then of the leading beef breeds. One way to become famihar with 

 the different breeds of cattle is to see, as often as possible, copies of farm 

 papers that give considerable attention to live-stock production. 



The dairy breeds 



The Jersey. — The color of the Jersey, in general, is solid fawn, vary- 

 ing through all the shades from light to dark, and becoming almost black 

 in some cases. White is allowable and occurs in patches with sharply 

 defined outlines in the general fawn color of the body. Jersey cows show- 

 ing white are comparatively few in number. The photograph of the 

 Jersey shown is that of a very light fawn-colored cow. Jerseys usually 



