72 THIRTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



Afternoon Session. 



President. In the absence of Gov. Hoard we will take up 

 the last subject on the programme first. 



"BREEDING, CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY 



STOCK, ETC." 



George Aitken, Woodstock. 



There are at least ten recognized breeds of dairy cattle in 

 this country, and all of them more or less valuable in some 

 branch of dairying; but I am sure that you will all agree with 

 me, when I say that the Jersey as a breed stands preeminent 

 among them as an economical producer of first class butter, 

 and as this kind of butter is the "sin qua non" of the Ver- 

 mont dairyman, it is absolutely necessary to learn all we can 

 about breeding the cow which produces it. 



In the first place, how came this particular breed by their 

 inherent quality of producing rich milk? Simply by the force 

 of circumstances. The inhabitants of the Channel Islands 

 finding no sale for their surplus milk at home, made it into 

 butter for shipment to foreign markets, as this trade devel- 

 oped, it naturally followed that the individual cows giving 

 the most butter came to be the most valuable and, their pro- 

 geny more sought after, this, in connection with the circum- 

 scribed area of the Island, and the making of a law as early 

 as 1779 rigidly prohibiting, under heavy penalties, the land- 

 ing upon the Island of any live animal of the bovine race, has 

 given us the Jersey cow of today. The oldest breed of im- 

 proved cattle we have any knowledge of. With this grand 

 foundation, it would seem an easy matter to continue this im- 

 provement of the breed along the same lines, but, while we in 

 this country are raising Jerseys giving, in some instances 

 nearly double the amount of the Island bred cows, I am afraid 

 we are losing sight of the most valuable characteristic of the 

 breed, which is economy. 



We have succeeded (so the records tell us) in getting a cow 

 to eat fifty pounds a day for a week, of the most nitrogenous 

 grains, besides a quantity of beets, cabbages and apples, and 

 giving (thirty-six pounds of butter), this is interesting as 



