No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 257 



ticular about the pedigrees of their cattle, and therefore in this way 

 there are several breeds that have retained untarnished pedigrees 

 most faithfully. The breeds to which I allude present now in out- 

 ward appearance and in results, for both the dairy and for beef 

 cattle, that cannot be surpassed in the world. This is more particu- 

 larly true of the breeds known here as the Hollendais or Dutch cow, 

 and the Flamande or Belgium cow. There is a strong likeness be- 

 tween these two breeds that suggests unmistakably, to a judge of 

 cattle, a common origin. * * * The Hollendais or Dutch cattle 

 on the whole, I think, are generally more esteemed than any other." 



Eastward from its place of origin this race has spread even more 

 extensively than southward. It has extended even to Russia, where, 

 at the mouth of the river Dwina, nearly under the Arctic Circle, it 

 has produced the Kolmogorian breed, the most highly valued cattle 

 of that country. Whether it might not have spread westward into 

 England and the Channel Islands, but for laws restricting importa- 

 tions from the continent, cannot be said. It is however asserted by 

 Professor Low, an eminent English author on breeds of cattle, writ- 

 ing in 1840, that early importations of Dutch cattle exercised great 

 influence on the formation of the Teeswater, afterwards known as 

 the Shorthorn breed. 



THE TYPE OF THE BREED. 



This is technically called the milk and beef form. It is especially 

 strong in all vital particulars. It embraces strength and capacity 

 for milk production. The bones are fine, compared with size, and 

 the chine broad and strong, compared with the high and sharp 

 chine of the extreme milk form. The loin and hips are broad and 

 smooth, and the rump high and level, compared with the angularity 

 usually shown in the milk form. The twist is roomy and the thighs 

 and hocks well apart. Passing forward, the shoulders are smoother 

 and more compact than in the milk form, but of lighter weight than 

 in the beef form. The brisket is not so wide and low as in the beef 

 form and the chest is not so deep, but the width of the beef form 

 through at the heart is closely retained. In the milk form the ab- 

 domen is usually swung low, and the ribs are steep and flat, but in 

 the milk and beef form the ribs are wider sprung and the abdomen 

 more trimly held up, though no less capacious. The general ap- 

 pearance of the bull is strongly masculine, but that of the cow is no 

 less feminine than in the milk form. 



The average measurements of full-age cows (cows five years old 

 and upwards), received to the fourth volume of the Holstein- Friesian 

 Advanced Eegister were as follows: Height at shoulders, 51.8 

 inches, at hips, 53; length of body, 64.9, of rump, 21.4; width of hips, 



17—7—1900 



