THE JERSEYS, ALDERNEYS AND GUERNSEYS. 681 



from the islands of the French coast, but that all of them, wnether from 

 the continent or islands, pass under the common name of Alderney. 

 Youatt also adds, on the authority of Mr. Parkinson, who seems to have 

 been a prejudiced observer, that, "The Alderney, considering its voracious 

 appetite — for it devours almost as much as a Short-Horn — 3ields very 

 little milk," but admits the milk to be rich in quality, though "itis not rich 

 enough, yielding the small quantity she does, to pay for what it costs." 

 If this be true, the Jersey has improved fully as much within the last 

 fifty years as any othe^ breed. 



IV. The Jersey of To-Day. 



Be the statements of the authorities quoted what they may, the Jersey 

 of to-day is a very different animal from that which they describe. That 

 the Jerseys are large feeders for their size there is no doul)t, and that they 

 give the richest milk of any known breed is quite as certain. That some 

 of them, at least, give large quantities of milk, the following extract from 

 the American Encyclopaedia of Agriculture will show : 



" The butter from the cows is very rich in cream and deep yellow in 

 color, so much so that a few cows in a herd will decidedly change the 

 color of the butter of the whole herd. The percentage of cream to 

 milk varies from eighteen to twenty-live per cent., and the proportion of 

 butter to cream varies from 3.70 to 8.07 in 100 parts. Twenty-six quarts 

 per day has been recorded as the product of an individual cow, and four- 

 teen pounds of butter per week. Sixteen quarts per day may be re- 

 garded as a good yield, and when we take into consideration the light 

 weight of the cow, and the fact that the milk will yield fron? one-quarter 

 to one-sixth of the richest cream, we need not wonder that these gentle 

 and deer-like cattle have become universal favorites as family cows." 



Our own observation is that twelve quarts a day may be considered a 

 good average yield of milk, from the pure-bred animals — an average 

 fully one-third more than that of good native herds. 

 V. Crossing The Jersey. 



Crossing the Jerseys with other improved breeds has not resulted satis- 

 factorily. Their value, however, is priceless when crossed upon good 

 milkers from native herds. They have added largely to the quality of 

 the milk of the inferior stock ; and crosses of the Jersey bull upon the 

 ordinary native cows of a district, have not only imparted richness to the 

 milk, but have resulted in an increased ilow. Their sole use is amonaf 

 those who wish exceedingly rich milk, and, whatever the strain, we think 

 no advantage will be found in crossing them on any of the beef breeds. 

 They are milking cattle, and their legitmate use is to supply the demands 

 i)f people who want quality, and not quantity of milk. 



