VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 75 



quality which is so much sought after by beef breeders, the 

 ability to lay on flesh or to turn their food into fat. This 

 quality in conjunction with what is termed the dairy type, de- 

 notes the ability, or rather the propensity to turn the food in- 

 to butter fat instead of putting- it on their bodies. 



No other breed has this ability to the same extent as the 

 Jersey, and there is a fortune awaiting- the man who has skill 

 and patience enough to produce a family of cows of the true 

 economical dairy type with the butter secreting powers of the 

 little Channel Islander. 



Mr. Smith. How do the Island Jerseys of today compare 

 with those that have been breed i-n this country? 



Mr. Aitken. I am glad the question has been asked be- 

 cause you'might get an idea from my paper that we have not 

 improved on the Island animal here. I walked all over the 

 island of Jersey last spring looking for a bull with certain 

 characteristics that I wished to propagate, but I could not 

 find one on the island that suited me. The question of price 

 did not enter into it at all. While I saw a great many beau- 

 tiful Jerseys on the island, I am perfectly well satisfied that 

 we have in Vermont better and more profitable Jersey ( cattle 

 than they have on the island today. 



Question. In what respect are they better? 



Mr. Aitken. More economical. That is the point I wish 

 to emphasize. The Jersey cattle on the island todav have 

 been sacrificed to beauty. There are some splendid cattle on 

 the island but the chief characteristics of the breed has been 

 sacrificed to deer-like prettiness. The Islanders are breeding 

 for [the market, that is the kind they can sell, and they are 

 breeding the cattle for the men who will pay the highest 

 price. This will change I think before long because the 

 Danes are going over there to buy Jerseys. 



Mr. Stafford. Is the high feeding for breeding stock safe? 



Mr. Aiken. No sir. Feeding too highly concentrated 

 foods to breeding stock or growing stock is one of the worst 

 things that can be done. During the boom in Jerseys a few 

 years ago a good many speculators went into the Jersey busi- 

 ness. They took their calves as quick as they were dropped 

 and 'fed them as highly as they could largely on concentrated 

 foods. The result was that they brought in the prettiest ani- 

 mals you could look at, shaped like a deer, groomed like a race 

 horse, but I have not found one of those animals raised under 

 that method that was good for anything. 



Mr. Stafford. Is it safe to use cottonseed meal? 



Mr. Aitken. I do not use it. The question of feeding the 

 animal is very essential. My method may not be the best, 

 b ut it is the best I know of. As soon as I take the young 



