30 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Oct. 



THE HOLSTEIN. 



In the introduction to the Netherland Herd Book, Professor 

 Hengerveld, an eminent authority on this breed in Holland, states 

 that the Dutch breed of cattle has existed on the banks of the 

 great rivers in Netherland since the early dawn of history, before 

 the Christian Era. Thus it can be safely said that their origin 

 and purity can be traced back for twenty centuries. This superior 

 race of cattle is held by historians to have so influenced the 

 people of that country through the ages, that their warlike habits 

 and seafaring nature have been changed to peaceful pursuits and 

 to productive industry. Dykes have been built to keep out the 

 water from the sea ; the land is wonderfully productive and com- 

 mands an extraordinarily high price, the result being that only 

 the highest type of cow was profitable. And while in earlier 

 times the principles of heredity and value of pedigree was not 

 generally recognized, a process of selection has slowly but effec- 

 tively wrought improvement to the breed. 



In America. 



In 1872, Mr. W. W. Chenery of Massachusetts, one of the 

 earliest importers in this country, made a careful study of the 

 origin of the cattle in Holland and came to the conclusion that 

 the cattle originated in the province of Holstein. Thus the Hol- 

 stein Herd Book of America was compiled. Later, in 1880, 

 breeders who disputed Mr. Chenery's findings, formed the Dutch- 

 Friesian Herd Book, claiming that their cattle had come from the 

 province of Friesland. A heated controversy arose, but when it 

 was discovered that all of these cattle had a common origin, and 

 many had come from the same herds, these differences were 

 amiably adjusted, and the Holstein-Friesian Association of America 

 was organized in 1885. These facts at present are merely inci- 

 dental, but it is of significant importance that the breeders 

 guarded against the introduction and registration of inferior 

 animals by having a committee to inspect and pass upon each 

 animal prior to registration, and as practically all animals of this 

 breed in America have descended from these early importations, 

 we can claim superiority for the American bred cattle. 



