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tains a larger percentage of fat than that from any other breed in 

 Great Britain. It is obvious that this richness of milk is connected 

 closely with the purity of the breed, which latter is accounted for 

 mainly by the fact that from its insular position Jersey has been 

 able to control the importation of animals from without, and so 

 maintain that purity, which is so unquestionable that even now, 

 after the lapse of forty-two years, no cows in the island are 

 disqualified for entry in the herd book on the ground of being 

 crossbred. Three other causes, however, contributed to make the 

 Jersey cow what she is to-day: i) Jealousy of the French, who 

 in former days exported Brittany cows to England, where they 

 were sold as coming from Jersey ; 2) the Constitution of the island, 

 which enabled the States to pass Acts of Parliament without 

 consulting the English authorities; and 3) the careful attention 

 given to the milking and butter-producing qualities of the cattle 

 by the farmers and breeders on the island. 



That Jersey cattle were until recently, and indeed still are, 

 called Alderneys is explained by the fact that for a good many 

 years the Channel Island steamers used to call at Alderney last 

 on their voyages to England, from which they got to be Jknown 

 as the Alderney Packets, and as a natural consequence the cattle 

 on board were called Alderneys. 



The Jersey is the best and most economical cow for butter 

 production. The quality of her milk is the richest, about 18 to 

 19 Ib. of milk only being required to make i Ib. of butter, while 

 for sustaining her flow of milk the Jersey cow has no equal. 

 The average yields of butter which may be expected from Jersey 

 cows in a year are given in "Jersey Cattle, their Feeding and 

 Management" (Veritas & Co., London 1903), as follows: Cows 

 under five years old, 260 Ib.; cows five years and over, 320 Ib. 

 As milking cows, their yields average from 400 gal. as heifers 

 to 900 gal. as cows, though of course there are herds where these 

 figures are exceeded. 



The average weight of the Jersey cow is about 850 Ib. In 

 England they are apt to grow coarser in bone and heavier than 

 on the island of Jersey, which has been attributed to the fact that 

 the island is on a granite formation. Being essentially dairy cattle 

 they do not pretend to be of much use to the butcher indeed a 

 Jersey cow showing an aptitude to fatten would be discarded as 

 a useless animal, the conformation of the dairy cow being opposed 

 to the putting on of flesh. 



