552 CATiLi: AND DAlItY FARMING. 



as opposed t<> the general improvement of the whole race. Fortunately, 

 however, theclaim that the .Jersey was the best butter cow on earth was so 

 soon challenged that it became the common interest of all Jersey breed- 

 ers to improve the race as a whole, and no sooner has one " family " gone to 

 the front than another has outstripped it, and the different strains of 

 blood have become so mingled by anxiety of breeders to cross for merit 

 the only irue theory of breeding that it is almost impossible to tell which 

 is the most potent blood element in any particular animal, and quite as 

 impossible to say which is the best of a score of Jersey "families" as it 

 is to lind a straight pedigree, with no ontcrosses in any. At the pres- 

 ent time an Alphea, a Coomassie, a Kex, a Signal, a Jersey Belle of Seit- 

 uate, a Kuiotas, or a Stoke Pogis, and a hundred others, means very 

 little and is worth very little in the name, unless the immediate ances- 

 tors have a butler record at the scales. The general demand for a "test" 

 has benefited immeasurably the whole Jersey race and destroyed at once 

 and forever the silly "family" folly and the still sillier "color" craze. 

 It is possible that the whole Jersey race is of such uniform excellence 

 that all that is needed at any time or in any place, is a little extra iced 

 and a little extra care to create a "family."' At all events, henceforth, 

 there is no royalty in Jerseys, and "the best cow wins." Prices are 

 higher in Canada, on the average, than in the United States, and if we 

 needed a market we could find a profitable one here. 



CANADIAN IIOLSTEINS. 



There are, some llolsteins in Canada, but not many. Their admirers 

 claim for them size and an immense yield of rich milk, and consider 

 them the best "general purpose cow" in the world. 



GENEKAL REMARKS. 



Considering that facts bond fide from breeders would be of much more 

 value than any amount of theory or guess, 1 sent out printed interrog- 

 atories to many of the leading breeders in Ontario, and although 1 did 

 not receive as many replies as 1 could wish, yet such as I have received 

 i have placed as far as possible in tabular form at the close of this re- 

 port. Jt is almost the universal custom among the Shorthorn breeders 

 to allow the cows to suckle their calves for from four to six months, and 

 I judge the same practice prevails generally among the other beeiing 

 breeds. Of ordinary eat tie for slaughter this province has a large sur- 

 plus, which seeks a market, both in the United Slates and England. I 

 have given some figures elsewhere upon this point. Of the pure bloods 

 there is re, illy no surplus, although some bulls of the beeiing breeds, 

 and cows to a less extent, are sold in the, United States, and on the 

 other hand others are brought in from there. The. trade in these ani- 

 mals is unique and has not yet acquired a steady How in either direc- 

 tion; if the United Slates had a surplus of almost any breed except 

 Shorthorns. A vrshires. and Devons, I think a m;:rkef could be found 

 here. ( ';m;ida seems to I >e sufficient ly supplied with those named. 



In the following tables 1 have endeavored to present in as compact a 

 form as possible! lie faets offered by t he vai ious breeders who have fur- 

 nished me information. These, reports from various herds represent 

 ftrcrfKjcfi in these herds. The question concerning- soil, grasses, &<., 

 were generally answered. 'The altitude and mean temperature of the 

 different localities were not generally known. The Toronto Observatory 



