218 RURAL NEW YORK 



dicated that the large herds of the State are dom- 

 inantly made iip of tlie blood of the " black and 

 white " cows. 



The comriiercial size of dairy herds is commonly 

 from twelve to forty cows. There are, of course, 

 many who keep a smaller number to which they look 

 as an important source of income. A few dairies 

 maintain as many as one hundred head of cows and 

 several as liigh as two hundred head as one unit. 



The center for pure breeding of the Holstein is in 

 Madison County. Around this is grouped a half 

 dozen counties of similar prominence in the industry. 

 Solomon Hoxie, a pioneer importer of Holstein, who 

 established the first advance registry record in any 

 breed in 1894, resided at Peterboro in Madison 

 County. This region, with Syracuse as the chief 

 market center, has become widely known among 

 breeders as a source of Holstein stock and many not- 

 able auctions of this breed have been held there. 

 There is also a large number of Holstein breeders 

 in the counties of Jefferson and St. Lawrence in the 

 St. Lawrence Valley. 



The Jersey breed is not so much concentrated. 

 Several counties, Westchester, Suffolk, Otsego, Dela- 

 ware and Allegany, have about equal prominence. 

 The Guernsey is best developed in Cayuga, Saratoga 

 and Washington counties. The Ayrshire is coming 

 into prominence in the rougher portions of the State 

 where rustling for pasture is essential. Allegany has 

 the largest number of pure animals of this breed, 

 with 'St. Lawrence County second. The other three 



