774 



of nature, much of her food passes through without being properly 

 digested, and this is a dead loss to the cow and her owner. Every 

 effort an animal makes exhausts a certain amount of nourishment ; 

 therefore, the less exertion made the greater quantity of nourish- 

 ment there will be available for milk and cream. As to the different 

 kinds of cattle that are available for dairying, nearly all the various 

 breeds can be utilised, with the exception of the Polled Angus and 

 . Devons, and I have heard of individuals of this latter breed giving 

 good butter results, but it is very exceptional, and for all practical 

 purposes they may be left out of our consideration. 



\Ve would then have Durhams, or Shorthorns, Herefords, 

 Holsteins, Ayrshires, Alderneys, and included in these are Jerseys 

 and Guernseys, as in these colonies these three separate breeds are 

 rarely kept distinct. Kernes and Dexter Kerries so far as I can 

 find out, I do not think there are any of the two latter breeds in 

 this colony, but lately they have been introduced into the hilly 

 districts of the eastern colonies, and with great success. Then we 

 have the various crosses of all the above breeds, and we con- 

 tinually meet with people who tell us that the crosses are far 

 superior to the pure bred cattle for dairy purposes. Against that 

 we have the fact that all the great records ever made have been 

 from pure bred cattle, carefully bred for many generations. Thus 

 we have the pure bred Jersey cow, " Lily," at five years old, giving 

 23 quarts of milk a day, and yielding 24^ Ibs. of butter in the week. 

 Then we have three pure bred cows, Ayrshires, belonging to the 

 Duke of Westminster, that gave 1106 gallons, mo gallons, and 1448 

 gallons respectively in 12 months ; this last one being at the rate of 

 almost 16 quarts per day the whole year through. There is also 

 the record of three Holstein cows at Troy (N.Y.). One gave an 

 average of 27 quarts a day, another 28^ quarts, and the third 29^ 

 quarts per day during a week's test. The first one gave 25^2 Ibs. of 

 butter for the week, the second 23*7 Ibs., and the third 2875 Ibs. 

 These were not only good milkers, but two of them had won prizes 

 in the open class at the New York show, for Holstein cows. X<> 

 records from cross-bred cows that I have ever seen or heard of 

 come near these. Not that I would for a moment deny that there 

 arc good cross-bred dairy cattle. I have known what are called 

 common cows give as high as 16 and 17 Ibs. of butter in a 

 week, but pure bred cattle have beaten their records, and from a 

 pure bred beast you are far more likely to get a calf that will inherit 

 the milking properties of its mother than you arc from :i crossbred. 

 All dairymen will know as a fact, as well as all breeders of any kind 

 of stock, that if you breed from cross-bred stock you never can tell 

 what the result will be. It may take after its sire, or after its dam, 

 or it mav strain back for generations to a great-grandsire, dam, or 

 even father. 



I am not by any means advising dairymen to go to the expense 

 of purchasing a pure bred herd right oft" ; but, what 1 would strive 



