CATTLE 61 



times with varieties, differing in size and beauty; a slight difference is also sometimes to be 

 observed in color and in the shortness of the horns. These varieties are the results of differ 

 ences in the nature and fertility of the soil upon which these cattle have long been bred and 

 reared. 



Thus these cattle may be divided into large, medium, and small. The largest cattle are 

 to be found on the salt water alluvions along the seashore, on the islands, and on the marshy 

 grounds washed up by the sea lands rich in clay. They are also found on the sweet water 

 alluvions of the great rivers, on the drained lakes, and on the loamy grounds containing a 

 great deal of clay. Another somewhat smaller kind of large cattle, of a finer shape and 

 more beautiful symmetry, is found on the fertile, loamy, and peaty grounds of the lowlands. 

 Medium-sized cattle are found upon the lowest, peaty, loamy, and moist soils, which con 

 tain much acid, on lands covered with water plants and grass of small nutritive value, and 

 also on the tilled, dry soils, which contain a smaller proportion of clay and humus. The 

 smallest cattle are found on the diluvions and on the heaths. 



Consequently, we find large cattle in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland, North 

 Holland, and in some parts of North Brabant and Limburg. Somewhat smaller cattle, but 

 of fine form, in the northwest part of Groningen, on the peaty soils of Limsterland, along 

 the Yessel, and on some rich loams of South Holland. 



Color. As to color, the following observations may be made: Our farming ancestors 

 kept chiefly white cattle; the remainder were black or brown spotted. The white cattle of 

 the Bavarians are famous in history. Some centuries later we read of white cows and oxen 

 given as tribute to the counts of Bavaria, the princes of Spain, etc. At a still later period 

 date the brown spotted bull and grey cow of Paul Potter. Besides the white cattle, we have 

 now the black and white variegated, and the roan cows of Groningen, Friesland, and North 

 Holland. The black, and white variegated in the many truly fine varieties are most numerous. 

 Some foreigners prefer these variegated cattle, doubting the purity of the other colors. This 

 is a great mistake. About twenty-five years ago, the so-called black whiteheads, from the 

 loams of Groningen, were generally preferred and used for breeding purposes. Neither 

 are the red variegated cattle rare. These also belong to the thoroughbred stock. 



Horns. Another prominent characteristic of Dutch cattle is the style of the horns. In 

 this respect they are classed with the Short-Horn races. The direction of the horns is oblique 

 and horizontal, sometimes curved upwards; the downward curve, however, is considered as 

 a desirable mark in milking stock. It is even supposed that the shortness of the horns has 

 a great deal to do with the fineness of the shape. Though it may not be true in every 

 respect, yet the exquisiteness of form and quality depends much upon the network of the 

 horns and the fineness of the hair. It may be shown, on physiological grounds, that long 

 horns take away nutritive matter, especially azotic substances, to the great disadvantage of 

 the bodily development, and consequently the production of beef and milk. Breeders are 

 therefore quite right in paying particular attention to the shortness of the horns. 



The milk form, variegated colors, and short horns are three prominent external points 

 proper to all Dutch cattle wherever they may be bred. These are points that they have 

 possessed ever since the formation of the breed, and are strongly hereditary. 



Flexibility. The important quality called flexibility, or ease of adaptation to outward 

 circumstances, though belonging, to a greater or less extent, to all races and breeds of cattle, 

 is one of the principal characteristics of the Dutch Friesian breed, and makes them acclima 

 tize in other countries with but little or no change in their productiveness. The cattle 

 imported a hundred years ago into Anspach, the cattle sent to Bremen, Holstein, and Berlin, 

 the Dutch cattle in Hohenheim and Rosenstein, imported by the King of Wirtemburg, the 

 Bohemian Dutch cattle, and these cattle in France, Germany, Russia, and lately America, are 

 so many evidences of this. They all retain their original form, colors, and qualities. 



