78 THE JERSEY 



silvery gray or fawn, through various shades of rich red, to a 

 seal brown, almost black. In size the Jersey is one of the small- 

 est of the dairy breeds (Fig. 28). Mature cows should weigh 

 in the neighborhood of 900 pounds, while the bulls may vary 

 between 1300 and 1700. The Jersey calf at birth weighs from 

 50 to 80 pounds, and though healthy, is quite a baby to raise. 

 The Jersey heifer matures at a very early age. Care must 

 be taken to prevent too early breeding. The fact that they 

 will breed early is sometimes an advantage, however, in that 

 there is a shorter period of unprofitable feeding. The intelli- 

 gence of the Jersey cow is remarkable, and her affectionate qual- 

 ities endear her to those who love stock. This same quality, 

 however, is a disadvantage when she is in the hands of one who 

 is rough or boisterous, or generally unfriendly. When roughly 

 handled the Jersey is more likely to resent the treatment than a 

 cow of less sensitive organization. Thus we have conspicuous 

 examples of cows which did exceedingly poorly under one man- 

 agement that proved to be wonderful producers in the hands of 

 another. 



Dairy Characteristics. — The Jersey is the most highly 

 specialized dairy cow in America. She is not conspicuous for 

 the quantity of milk (Fig. 28), but rather for the rich quality 

 of it. The average fat test of the milk of this breed is not far 

 from five and one-half per cent, while many individuals produce 

 milk with as high as six and even seven per cent fat. During 

 the earlier days of dairying the Jersey was known as the cow 

 for the " butter dairy." Her milk was so rich that only sixteen 

 to nineteen pounds would be required to make a pound of butter, 

 whereas twenty-five or more pounds of the milk of other breeds 

 would be required to equal it. IsTot only is it rich in fat, but the 

 globules are comparatively large in size. This fact facilitates 

 quick and thorough creaming by gravity. There will be less 

 fat wasted in the skim milk, under the old system, with a Jersey 

 than with breeds yielding smaller fat globules. The condition 

 still remains but its importance is now negligible when the 

 centrifugal cream separator is used. The milk of the Jersey 

 produces cheese of very rich quality, even more fatty than the 



