TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XI 647 



along, for the type is gradually steadying down. It is always a big job 

 to judge this breed and Professor Dinsmore had his hands full. He 

 seemed to show a slight inclination toward the beef type. 



THE DAIRY liREEDS. 



Iowa is one of the great dairy states, but her number of pure bred 

 dairy herds is deplorably small. In the whole dairy show there were but 

 seven Iowa breeders, and ringside interest was decidedly lacking. Pro- 

 ducing beef is a lot more romantic if not more profitable than producing 

 butter fat, and the Iowa farmer seems to prefer to look at a beautifully 

 conditioned, chunky beef cow rather than at her skinny, nervous looking 

 sister. There are lots of points which might be picked up in the dairy 

 barns which most fair goers neglect. 



On the whole there was an unusually strong exhibit of dairy cattle 

 this year. Two very noticeable features were the great strength of the 

 Guernseys and the presence of the first Ayrshire herd ever shown in Iowa. 

 In numbers at least the Guernseys made the best showing of the four 

 breeds. During the last two or three years the Guernseys have been com- 

 ing to the front rapidly, and seem destined to play an important part in 

 Iowa's future as a dairy state. Mr. Fox and Mr. Green of Wisconsin di- 

 vided up most of the prizes with Mr. Marsh and Mr. Quarton of Iowa. 

 Competent judges declared the quality in some of the rings excelled the 

 national dairy show. 



The Barclay Farm, Bryn Mawr, Pa., Mr. Oakley, manager, was the only 

 exhibitor of Ayrshires, but this one herd attracted more attention than 

 all the rest of the dairy breeds. The Ayrshire is a beautiful cow and 

 entirely different in type from the other dairy breeds. The ideal Ayr- 

 shire is a big, hardy cow, usually white and brown spotted in color, with 

 a wonderfully level, perfectly shapped udder. But the distinguishing char- 

 acteristic of the breed to most people is the long, upward curving horn. 

 Mr. Oakey says his herd averaged 9,000 pounds of milk last year testing 

 4.5 per cent, and that is a record any breed may be proud of. 



The Holstein exhibit was hardly as strong as usual this year. Messrs. 

 Barney and White of Iowa and Knowlos of Massachusetts were the main 

 exhibitors. 



Prof. H. G. Van Pelt judged all of the dairy classes. 



The milk cow test brought out a number of entries and much interest 

 was manifested in this contect. The four leading entries were as follows: 

 1. Finleyston Cherry 6th, Barclay Farms, Bryn Mawr, Pa., Ayrshire; 2, 

 Barleith Snow Drop, Barclay Farms, Ayrshire; 3, Wietske Ormsby, Bar- 

 ney & Co., Hampton, la., Holstein; 4, Hospital Pledge, F. P. Knowles, Au- 

 burn, Mass., Holstein. 



JERSEYS. 



The Jersey cattle rings v,'ere not as well filled as in some former years. 

 One of the strongest herds entered did not get to Des Moines, but the 

 herds of J. B. Smith, Beatrice, Neb., Smith Bros., Cameron, 111., and Hun- 

 kydory Farm, Pella, la., brought out some excellent specimens of this pop- 



