REPORT ON BULLS. 



The illness of one and the extreme business of another member of 

 the committee appointed by the Society, devolved on your chairman 

 the task of obtaining substitutes ; and he was fortunate in securing 

 the assistance of two gentlemen of ripe experience, acknowledged 

 judgment, and marked independence of character. This made his 

 task easy and pleasant, and even where his opinion was over-ruled 

 by his associates, he had the satisfaction of feeling thorough confi- 

 dence in the integrity of their motives, and a sincere respect for the 

 principles on which their decision was based. 



Of the seven entries in this class, six animals were Jerseys, a tol- 

 erably fair criterion of the general estimation in which this breed is 

 held. Of these six, some had authentic certificates of registry in 

 the books of the American Jersey Cattle Club (A. J. C. C), others 

 were recorded in the American Jersey Herd Book (A.J. H.B.), 

 while the pedigrees of the rest depended on the assertion of their 

 owners, supported l^y more or less testimony of a more or less vague 

 and unofficial kind. 



Fortunately for the committee, the question of the comparative 

 validity of the several pedigrees did not arise, as the two bulls to 

 which the first and second premiums were awarded were indisputably 

 the best animals in the class, and their proofs of pure, indeed aristo- 

 cratic ancestry-, Avere clear and undeniable. As however this question 

 is likely to arise in the future, it ma^y be well for the Society to 

 decide and define what registration or evidence of pedigree shall be 

 necessary to qualify an animal to receive the Society's premiums. 

 Must a bull be registered in the Herd Record of the American Jersey 

 Cattle Club, or is it sufficient if his pedigree is recorded in the Ameri- 

 can Jersey Herd Book, or may the committee award a premium to 

 an animal on satisfactory proof that he is descended in a direct line 

 from imported stock, or from registered stock or stock popularly, 

 recognized as pure, always supposing the appearance of the animal 

 to bear out his owner's claims? Much ma}' be said both for and 



