214 MILCH CATTLE THE JERSEY 



prominent eye develops into a diseased and inflamed con- 

 dition known as rt gimlet " eye, from the way the animals 

 turn their eyes. ~ v ,ix 



Colonel le Couteur has left the following early description 

 of the breed : " The Jersey farmer, conscious of possessing 

 a breed excellent for the production of rich milk and cream 

 . . . sought no further, but was content to possess an ugly, 

 ill-formed animal, with flat sides, wide between the ribs and 

 hips, cat-hammed, narrow and high hips, with a hollow 

 back." Nevertheless, "she possessed the head of a fawn, a 

 soft eye, an elegant crumpled horn, small ears, yellow within, 

 a clean neck and throat, fine bones, a fine tail above all, a 

 well-formed, capacious udder, with large swelling milk veins." 



The Jersey Herd Book, begun in 1866, materially con- 

 tributed to the improvement of the breed from the point of 

 view of good looks, and the unshapely form of the old-fashioned 

 Jersey was speedily changed to that of the elegant and grace- 

 ful creature of the present time. But beauty of form and 

 superior milking qualities do not necessarily go together. 



One important superiority possessed over other herd 

 books, made possible by the moderate area of the island, is 

 that each animal must be inspected and attain a certain 

 standard of merit before it can be registered. Those passed 

 are classified by the Herd Book judges as "commended" or 

 " highly commended." The merits of the dam are taken into 

 account in the case of a bull, and no heifer can be entered in 

 the Herd Book until she has borne a calf. Those who favour 

 inspection think that it is by such means that the Jersey 

 cow has reached the first position of merit in producing the 

 richest quality of milk of all dairy breeds, and during a 

 more prolonged period of lactation. 



Dr Watney adds : " While no cow or bull can be 

 admitted to the Herd Book except as above, it should be 

 carefully kept in memory that all cattle without exception 

 bred on the Island are considered to be pure bred, even if 

 their dams, sires, and their ancestors are not entered in the 

 Herd Book, i.e., if they are non-pedigree, yet they are equally 

 eligible with the descendants of the cattle of the Herd Book 

 to be entered should they show merit. The only differ- 

 ence is that for one generation the one are classed as F. 

 (Foundation Stock), the other as P.S. (Pedigree Stock). 



