66 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Since that time large additions to the number of these cattle in the United States have 

 been, and are still being made by frequent importations, as well as by breeding, where they 

 seem to adapt themselves readily to the climate, and grow as large as in their native country, 

 the pure-bred descendants of those imported fifteen or twenty years ago being fully as 

 valuable in all respects as fresh importations of the finest selections in Holland. The 

 pure-bred Holstein bull almost invariably marks his progeny, even if bred to a Short-Horn. 



Description of Holsteins. The general form of the Holstein breed is that 

 indicative of great milking quality, the udder being very capacious, and of unusual depth 

 and breadth, with well developed and prominent milk veins running well forward, and good 

 sized teats set well apart. The head should be finely moulded, forehead and face somewhat 

 concave; nose dark, nostrils large; eyes rather full, clear and sparkling, yet mild; ears 

 moderately large and standing out from the head; horns thin, short, and well curved. The 

 body should be compact and massive; well formed, with rather broad hind parts, straight 

 back, round but moderately bent ribs; well developed belly; fine bones, and suitably stout, 

 but not heavy legs; smooth joints; thin, mellow skin; soft, short hair ; tail rather long and 

 slender, with a thick bushy tuft of hair at the end. 



A recent writer in Holland in describing the beau ideal of this breed, says, in connection 

 with the milking qualities: &quot;The udder should be broad and drooping, well developed milk 

 and blood vessels; veins on the belly and about the udder to be proportionately broad and 

 vigorous, and of a wen-like swell, and the veins of the udder and inner hams to spread 

 net-like; the openings through which the milk and blood veins enter the body to be large and 

 roomy. A cow thus formed is also apt to show a perfect escutcheon.&quot; 



The color is black and white, spotted or mottled in greater or less inequalities of 

 proportion on the body. These cattle are gentle and docile, and the oxen, for those of such 

 large size, make excellent workers. A four year old bull of this breed is said to girt seven 

 feet and ten inches, the length of body eight feet and ten inches; height four feet and eleven 

 inches; weight 2,465 pounds. &quot;When fattened, the oxen often attain a weight of from 2,500 

 to 3,000 pounds, while the cows range from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds. They are a hardy breed 

 and large feeders. 



Dairy Characteristics of Holsteins. This breed is reputed to exceed all others 

 in the amount of milk produced. Unlike the Jerseys and Guernseys, Holsteins are 

 remarkable rather for the quantity, than richness of milk, although in this latter respect they 

 excel some breeds, the milk being of very fair quality, and is perhaps better adapted to 

 the manufacture of cheese, than butter. Their prominent characteristics have caused them 

 to be much sought after, especially in those sections where pasture is abundant, and dairying 

 is one of the leading agricultural industries. By tests, as shown by experiments made at 

 two of the agricultural stations of Prussia, in one case with the same care and in the same 

 time, the Ayrshire produced 2,247 quarts of milk, and the Holstein 5,677 quarts; the first 

 consuming nine pounds of hay for every quart of milk, and the latter five pounds. It is 

 stated by good authority that one cow of this breed, which had recently been imported, and 

 which had dropped her calf on the 15th of May, weighing one hundred and one pounds, 

 gave from the 26th of May to the 27th of July, according to a carefully kept record, four 

 thousand eighteen pounds and fourteen ounces of milk. 



The largest yield of milk in any one day was seventy-six pounds and five ounces, or thirty- 

 five and one-eighth quarts. The average of this cow for ten days was seventy-four and forty- 

 seven hundredths pounds per day, and the amount of cream produced from this milk was 

 twenty-two and seventy-one hundredths per cent. Six days milk of this cow produced seven 

 teen pounds and fourteen ounces of butter. The above is certainly an excellent record in 

 butter production as well as milk. The cow of this breed named Texelaar, formerly owned by 



