668 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



Remarkable herds were produced in England, From the herd of 

 Philip Dancey of that country, the bull Rioter, 746E, was brought to 

 America and to him the St. Lambert family of Jersey cattle, so prominent 

 in this country, all trace. 



The American people have imported many Jersey cattle both from 

 the Isle of Jersey and from England, and have always regarded cows of 

 the breed most excellent butter producers. Practical dairymen whose 

 choice of breeds has been the Jersey, have favored the larger-sized cows 

 and persistently worked to secure large productions of milk and butter. 

 As a result, many of the American-bred Jerseys are larger and more robust 

 and productive than the so-called island type. The greater size and pro- 

 duction of the American type of Jerseys has enabled the breed to hold 

 a popular place in dairy states and districts with other dairy breeds. 



Parallel with the development of the American-bred type of Jersey, 

 many people have taken great pride and pleasure in maintaining and 

 preserving the refined and smaller sized island type. Jersey cattle have 

 been quite universally distributed over the world and under proper care 

 and supervision give excellent satisfaction. 



Characteristics of Jersey Cattle. — Jersey cattle conform to a dairy type 

 that is usually extreme. They are regarded as most economical producers of 

 butter because of the marked dairy capacity they possess in proportion to 

 their size. The size varies according to the strain or family and for cows 

 ranges from 700 to 1000 pounds. Bulls will range from 1100 to 1500 pounds. 

 The American-bred families, more especially the St. Lambert's, are larger 

 than the imported stock from the Isle of Jersey or from England. 



The breed matures early and as a result many mistakes have been 

 made in carelessly and intentionally having young heifers produce their 

 first calves at too young an age. This practice, together with scant feed 

 rations, not only reduces the size but the constitution and usefulness of 

 any breed and, for a breed that is naturally small, results in severe criti- 

 cisms that are unfair when they apply to a breed rather than to individuals. 

 Jersey cattle that are properly reared and well cared for tend to be long 

 lived and very satisfactory dairy cattle. They have ranked high in 

 economy and production tests at many shows and expositions and the pro- 

 duction of cows admitted to the Jersey register of merit verify the fact that 

 cows of this breed have highly developed powers for dairy production. The 

 milk is of rich quality, testing ordinarily around 5 per cent. It is reason- 

 able to expect a production of 300 pounds of butter-fat annually as an 

 average per cow in herds that are well selected and managed. Jacoba 

 Irene, 146443, an American-bred cow, owned by A. O. Auten, Jerseyville, 

 111., in three consecutive years produced 42,900 pounds of milk and 2366.1 

 pounds of butter-fat. The present highest yearly record of butter-fat 

 production made by a Jersey cow is 999.14 pounds, the amount of milk 

 being 17,557.8 pounds testing 5.69 per cent, a record made by Sophie 19th 

 of Hood Farm, 189748, owned by C. I. Hood, Lowell, Mass. 



