126 



CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING, 



Milk record of a Guernsey cow. An English breeder of the Guernsey 

 gives the following particulars with regard to the cow No. 630, in the 

 Royal Guernsey Agricultural Society's Herd-Book. She calved on 

 15th May last, and the record is from July 9 to 15. The cow was fed 

 on clover only. The amount of butter made from the weel^s yield was 

 15 pounds G ounces : 



Guernseys in ilie Isle of Wight. The Eev. W. A. Glynn, of the Isle of 

 Wight, the well-known English breeder, says : 



My Guernseys are quite pure, and I generally carry about 30 to 40 head. I com- 

 menced with the breed twenty years ago. I register daily at each milking the quan- 

 tity of milk each cow gives, the annual average yield being 650 gallons, or, taking a gal- 

 lon as weighing 10 pounds, 6,825 pounds ; but some of the cows yield 800 to 900 gallons 

 a year. Two gallons, or 21 pounds, of milk make 1 pound of butter. I never make 

 cheese, nor have I weighed a live carcass, but the average weight without head, skin, 

 and offal, is about 740 pounds. 



The color of the Guernsey is lemon and white, and they arrive at maturity in about 

 three years. The produce of my cows is all sold as milk in the yard to a "dairyman 

 at a shilling per gallon. The annual average return is about 32 10s, while the cost 

 is 15. They have 4 pounds of decorticated cake daily through the year ; from about 

 May 1, to Christmas they run in the fields, and the rest of the year sleep in the open 

 shed at night, and have 28 pounds of mangel and 12 pounds of hay if fresh, the milk- 

 ers in winter receiving an additional 6 pounds of bran. During June, July, or Au- 

 gust if the pastures are short they get vetches; from October to Christmas cabbage, 

 and mangels from Christmas to May. 



I have bred with a view to useful and good dairy stock, but last year exhibited 

 with wonderful success the cow "Vesta," which was shown four times. I won the 

 1st twice ; the 3d, once, and the reserve, besides being once very highly commended. 

 With another, which was also shown four times, I won the 2d three times, and was 

 very highly commended once ; also the champion milking against 23 others once, and 

 the first milking once. With my bulls I have also been very successful in obtaining 

 honors. I started with the best blood I could get in Guernsey, and I carefully breed 

 for produce in quality and quantity. The quality on analysis at the dairy show 

 gave the specific gravity as 1.0316; total solids 14.25; fat, 5.54; solids not fat, 8.71 ; 

 percentage of cream by volume, 7.5, and drew special remark from the analyst as be- 

 ing the richest specimen of milk. 



I find that the stock raised here are far more hardy and do far better than when im- 

 ported from Guernsey. I infinitely prefer them, and only resort 1 as seldom as I can 

 to fresh blood from Guernsey. I carefully select my breeding stock, and do not force 

 them, but keep them in good order. I find no difficulty in finding purchasers, and as 

 I receive many applications, I place them in a book to be entertained in rotation. 

 Many gentlemen who have acted as judges of Channel Island stock at various shows 

 come to my herd to purchase. Our soil is a medium loam, partly on gravel and partly 

 on clay, much of which was recently laid down to pasture, but is not good for the pro- 

 duction of milk. The climate is good, I may say more temperate than in most parts 

 of England, the altitude being from 50 to 150 feet above the sea, near to which we are. 



Record of a Guernsey herd in Sussex. Mr. Nevill Wyatt, of Cuckfield, 

 Sussex, who has taken such trouble with the Guernsey Herd-Book, says : 



I farm 123 acres of poor soil, called the Weald of Susses, and it is the queerest mix- 

 ture of clay, sand, and gravel, as sometimes in the same field where pure sand is quar- 

 ried for building purposes there is found some 40 or 50 yards of stiff clay. The natural 

 soak is bad, as the beds of clay bank back the water. The farm, however, now is all 



