BREEDS OF DAIRY CATTLE 127 



The cows have been favorites for dairymen doing a milk-supply busi- 

 ness, but in some cases their product has been below the standards 

 fixed by State and municipal laws. On the other hand, there are 

 some families of Holsteins, and single animals are numerous, which 

 give milk of more than average richness and show themselves to be 

 profitable butter producers. Cows have frequently made from 15 

 to 30 pounds of butter a week. Entire herds of good size have aver- 

 aged over 17 pounds a week ; a few cows have records of 90 pounds, 

 and even 100 pounds, in a month. One of the herds already referred 

 to averaged 308 pounds of butter per cow annually for four years, 

 and there are several yearly herd records of over 400 pounds per 

 head ; also single records of 500 and 600 pounds, and one is claimed 

 of 1,153 pounds of butter in three hundred and sixty-five consecutive 

 days. 



The breeders of thoroughbred Holstein cattle in America organ- 

 ized in 1872 and compiled the first herdbook. This was three years 

 before any such published pedigrees appeared in the Netherlands, 

 the home of the breed. In 1877 another association of breeders 

 formed and started the Dutch-Friesian herdbook. After a long and 

 bitter contest these two organizations happily compromised and 

 united their names and records as the Holstein-Friesian Association 

 of America. The secretary of the association is editor of its register 

 (a monthly journal) and of its herdbook. It is believed that in re- 

 spect to size and dairy quality the best animals of this breed in the 

 United States are superior to those of their native country. 



JERSEYS. 



Origin and History. Lying in the English Channel, 30 to 50 

 miles from the southern extremity of Great Britain, is an interesting 

 group of islands, the largest of which, but 13 miles from the coast of 

 France, is the Island of Jersey. It is 11 miles long and less than 6 

 miles wide, being an irregular rectangle in shape, about the size of 

 Staten Island, in New York Harbor. High rocky cliffs bound its 

 coast on the north and west; thence the surface slopes gradually to 

 the south, with valleys and plains of some extent. This is the home 

 of one of the most important and widely distributed of the dairy 

 breeds of cattle. The foundation of the breed of cattle developed 

 hero was probably the stock of Normandy and Brittany. But early 

 in the eighteenth century steps were taken to prevent outside cattle 

 coming to Jersey, and in 1779 a law was made, Ayhich has since been 

 rigidly enforced, prohibiting under heavy penalties the landing upon 

 the island of any live animal of the bovine race. Jerseys have there- 

 fore been purely bred for a longer time than any other breed of 

 British origin. 



The arable land of the island is in the hands of about 2,000 

 owners. The holdings vary from 3 to 30 acres, and herds exceeding 

 a dozen cows are very rare. The soil is extremely fertile and its pro- 

 ductiveness is enhanced by mildness of climate; the mean tempera- 

 ture of the year is 51 F. and the average rainfall is 30 inches. From 

 time immemorial the custom has been to tether all animals, and they 

 are moved several times a day. They are always led instead of being 

 driven, and the handling is largely done by women. The cows re- 



