No. 7. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 255 



PAPERS READ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PEMSYLVANIA DAIRY 

 UNION, HELD AT CORRY, PA., DECEMBER 12 AND 13, 1900. 



THE HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN BREED. 



By S. HOXIE, Sxiperintendent of Advanced Begistry of Holstein-Friesian Cattle Club. 



Public interest in this breed is rapidly increasing in the richer 

 and more important dairy sections of this country. At the last 

 annual meeting of the Holstein-Friesian Association of America, 

 65 new members were received. Its total membership was 748, 

 which had nearly doubled in five years. 



This breed is imported from North Holland and Friesland, two 

 provinces of the Netherlands devoted to dairying in the almost exclu- 

 sive use of this breed. Here the breed originated. The farmers of 

 these provinces are descendants of the ancient Friesians and their 

 cattle are lineal descendants of the cattle bred by them two thou- 

 sand years ago. From the earliest account of dairy husbandry 

 these cattle have been used and developed for dairy purposes. North 

 Holland has been mainly devoted to cheese production, and Fries- 

 land to butter production. As an illustration of the extent of the 

 latter production, the following statistics are quoted from Cham- 

 ber's Encyclopedia. The area of Friesland is 1,253 square miles 

 (53 less than the State of Rhode Island). In 1874, England imported 

 from Friesland 40,7G3 cwt. of cheese and 266,041 cwt. of butter. 

 Reduced to pounds, these importations were 4,565,456 pounds of 

 cheese, and 29,796,592 pounds of butter. In 1879 the number of 

 cows in Friesland was 144,802. Assuming an equal number in 1874, 

 this importation of butter from Friesland was an average of 205| 

 pounds for all the cows, old and young, owned in that province. 

 Even if there was no home consumption and no sales to other coun- 

 itries. these exports alone sufficiently demonstrate the great ca- 

 pacity of this breed. To destroy the force of these statistics, its 

 enemies have sometimes assumed that a part of this exportation 

 was oleomargarine, but this is easily met by the fact that oleomar- 

 garine was not known in Friesland at that date. 



