DAIRY STOCK. 27 



strenuous and persistent effort has been made in this 

 direction. Their superior merits are unquestioned and 

 unquestionable. 



THE AMERICAN HOLDERS ESS. 



This is a new breed, and its reputation is mainly of a 

 local character. But it is not without its representatives 

 in most of the Northern and Northwestern States, and its 

 fame has traveled quite extensively, considering the qui- 

 et and unpretentious manner in which it was originated 

 and has been bred. In some particulars it is the most 

 uniform of the breeds, even more uniform than the 

 Devon. Especially is this true of the quality of the milk, 

 which is as uniform throughout the herd as if it were 

 drawn from a single cow, the quality varying, where the 

 keep is the same, only with the age of the cow, and the 

 lapse of time since calving. The yield of milk, though 

 not excessive, is large and very rich almost equal to 

 that of the Jersey and Guernsey, and quite equal to that 

 of the Devon. It churns easily, and the butter com- 

 pletely separates from the buttermilk, rendering a second 

 churning of no avail. Three hundred pounds per cow a 

 year of high-colored and fine-flavored butter is a fair 

 average for a herd. Few, even of selected herds, of other 

 animals equal this. We are not aware of phenomenal 

 milkers among the Holderness cattle, unless all can be 

 called such, their chief characteristic being uniformity. 

 They breed, it may be said, perfectly true to type, so that 

 all are excellent. The reason for this uniformity is plain, 

 and is found in the origin of the breed in the closest pos- 



