130 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



each, but it is in the quality of the milk that they specially excel. I have not as yet 

 tested the milk of all, but among those tried I have found many to give 10 per cent., 

 11 per cent., 12 per cent., and 13 per cent, of cream, while one has gone as high .- s 15 

 per cent. This, with an average live weight of from six to seven cwt., is,I think, a 

 satisfactory result. An imported Alderney, after her fourth or fifth calf, on the same 

 pasture, is only giving seven quarts of milk, containing 12 per cent, of 'cream. The 

 pure Kerry is a graceful animal, with finely formed limbs and a grand constitution, 

 capable, I believe, of great development on g'ood land. 



Mr. Bichard Barter, an extensive farmer, breeder, and dairy-owner, 

 says : 



Having a large dairy, with a few pure Jerseys, and always 7 or 8 Kerries through 

 the stock, I can bear testimony to the great value of the Kerry as a cow, in propor- 

 tion to her size, and the amount and quality of food she consumes. Her points are the 

 following : She yields a large quantity of rich milk, is extremely hardy, is easily 

 kept, is, moreover, docile, easily fatted when done milking, and is moderate in price. 

 I know of no cow which is so suited to families where only two or three are kept, or for 

 light, upland pastures. I have a large upland farm entirely stocked with them. 



Mr. A. J. Knight, in the following fact, supplies, in all likelihood, the 

 reason which led him to from his herd : 



Last year I had a Kerry cow given me, sent over from Kerry, where she had been 

 much admired as a perfect specimen. This cow beat two valuable and lately im- 

 ported Guernseys here, giving a larger quantity of equally rich milk ; and, whereas 

 the Guernseys looked poor and miserable during the winter, the Kerry was always in 

 good condition and happy. All had a mixture, In equal quantities, of best oil and 

 cotton cake, at the rate of 5 pounds of the mixture to each cow per day. 



Professor Baldwin, the well-known Irish agriculturist, bears this tes- 

 timony : 



The Kerry is small in size, exceedingly hardy, and can subsist on poor and exposed 

 pasture. It often bears a close resemblance in size, shape, and color to the native 

 cattle of Wales and Brittany. The color preferred is black, with a ridge of white 

 along the spine, and a white streak along the belly. Cattle of true Kerry descent are 

 met with of other colors. Thus, I have seen them brown, black, and white, and black 

 and brown. The horns are fine, somewhat long, and turned upwards at the points. 

 The skin is soft, unctuous, and of a fine orange tone, which is visible about the eyes, 

 the ears, and the muzzle. The beef is tender, well marbled, and commands the high- 

 est price in the market. The milk is peculiarly rich and well flavored, and the quan- 

 tity of it yielded, even on hard fare, is so great that the Kerry has been styled the 

 poor man's cow. Professor Low observes, that in milking properties, the Kerry cow, 

 taking size into account, is equal or superior to any in the British Islands. 



Mr. James Eobertson observes : 



As Youatt says, the Kerry may be truly described as the poor man's cow, living every- 

 where, and the description is thoroughly accurate. The Kerry will live and thrive in 

 almost any climate and temperature, on the site or summit of a Kerry Mountain or in 

 the poor undrained lands of the lowlands. I have made no extended experiments 

 and am unaware of any having been made, but my experience of an average Kerry 

 cow is that she will yield on an average 12 quarts of milk per day, and 10 to -11 quarts 

 of milk will produce 1 pound of butter. Cheese-making is almost unknown in Ireland. 

 The weight of the animals when fat is from 30 to 36 stone, of 8 pounds, and they 

 frequently run up to 40 stone. My herd is kept on prime old pasture, which has been 

 most judiciously ''laid down," but the part the Kerry plays prominently in the agri- 

 culture of the country, is that they are bred by small farmers in the Kerry Mountains, 

 where they have a temperature and climate much resembling that of the Welsh Mount- 

 ains, and are kept in and about that district until they are from two and a half to 

 three years old, when they are bought up in the local fairs in Kerry, and elsewhere, 

 -'for. the richer lauds of surrounding districts ; in fact, the popular idea is that if land is 

 not good enough to fatten Shorthorn cattle, it will be occupied by Kerries. 



Considering the utter neglect with which the Kerry have been treated, no method 

 .whatever being followed by their breeding, it is a wonder they arc not extinct long 

 ago. They are very easily kept. Two will consume very little more food than one 

 large Shorthorn, and when crossed with it make both good dairy cows and butcher's 

 beasts. My champion bull, Busaco, who has never been beaten in a show-yard and 

 who obtained ten royal prizes (the one at Kilburn included),' measured 68 inches in 

 girth, 36 inchesln height, and 34 inches from tail to top of shoulder. The Kerry cat- 

 tle are extremely hardy, not liable to disease, are handsome, docile, pretty in the park 



