130 THE STUDY OF BREEDS 



(1) Up to the end of 1899 there were recorded in the 

 Foundation Herd Book, 922 bulls and 5,307 cows. 



(2) The whole number of animals now on record is 6,966. 



LEADING CHARACTERISTICS. 



I. Popularity. 



(1) The popularity of French Canadian cattle is almost 

 entirely confined to Quebec province and portions of states 

 and provinces bordering on the same, but 



(2) Now that they are being systematically improved, 

 these robust little money makers will doubtless become favor- 

 ites in other states and provinces. 



II. Adaptability. 



(1) Because of their inherent ruggedness they are 

 adapted to climates where the winters are long and stern, as 

 in Quebec, the maritime provinces of Canada, the New Eng- 

 land states and the highlands of t 1 - e northern Alleghenies. 



(2) Because of their lightness of form they are eminently 

 adapted to rugged pastures where much traveling must be 

 done when grazing, and 



(3) Because of their excellent milking and easy keeping 

 qualities, they are unexcelled for dairy uses on lands that 

 respond tardily to the efforts of the husbandman. 



III. Relative size. 



(1) French Canadian cattle are the smallest of the dairy 

 breeds in America unless it be the Kerry. 



(2) The cows weigh on an average 700 pounds. 



IV. Milking qualities. 



(1) They do not give so large a flow of milk as some 

 breeds, but they milk with great persistence, and aggregate 

 large yields in proportion to their size. 



(2) When well supplied with food they should give from 

 5,000 to 6.000 pounds of milk a year. 



(3) The milk is said to test on an average from 4 to 5 1-2 

 per cent, and 



(4) They have much power relatively to produce milk on 

 fodder supplemented by only a small addition of grain or even 

 in its absence. 



V. Early maturing qualities. 



(1) These are not marked, but 



(2) With more generous feeding they will improve. 



(3) Even now heifers frequently come into milk at the 

 age of thirty months and sometimes earlier. 



