176 FARM ANIMALS 



relative merits of the different breeds of dairy cows, 

 and these claims have often led to comparisons in 

 the yields of milk, which may be expected from the 

 different breeds. According to most tests which 

 have thus far been made, the Holstein gives the 

 greatest amount of milk, but of a low fat content. 

 In tests in Wisconsin for the relative yields of dif- 

 ferent breeds the Holstein was followed by the 

 Brown Swiss, Shorthorn, Guernsey, Ayrshire, 

 Dutch Belted, French Canadian, Red Poll, Jersey 

 and Devon. With regard to the fat content of milk, 

 Jerseys and Guernseys stand close together at the 

 top followed by Devons, French Canadian, Ayr- 

 shires, Red Poll, and Shorthorn. In the matter 

 of the cost of production of milk, the Guernseys and 

 Ayrshires stand at the head of the list in most 

 tests. Thus, in one set of experiments in New 

 Jersey, the different breeds stood in the following 

 order with regard to the cost of milk fat : Guernsey, 

 Jersey, Ayrshire, Shorthorn, and Holstein. In 

 the relative profit derived from milk the usual 

 order in which the breeds have stood in actual 

 experiments is Holstein, Shorthorn, Ayrshire, 

 Guernsey, Jersey and Devon. Tests have also 

 been made regarding the relative profits of different 

 breeds for cheese production, but this is not of 

 great value since, as a rule, a good cheese cow is 

 also a good butter cow. While in all of these tests 

 the influence of the food on the quality of the milk 

 has been noted carefully, it has been found in 

 corroboration of what was said before on this point 

 that in general the food of the cow influences the 

 fat content in the milk very slightly or merely to 

 the extent that the cow yields the greatest amount 

 of milk with the highest fat content on rations 

 which are relatively high in protein. 



