44 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



DUTCH CATTLE— BULL VAN TBOMP. 



I wish to inquire of you or some one that has 

 raised the Dutch cattle, how they will compare 

 with other imported breeds for the dairy, or beef, 

 and for workmg oxen. Are they a tough, hardy 

 race of cattle for our hard winters, and rough 

 farms ? How large are they ? Some time ago you 

 gave a description of a herd of them, but the paper 

 lias got mislaid so I cannot refer to it. Do they 

 command such high prices as some of the other 

 imported breeds ? c. f. l. 



Woodstock, Vt., Xov. 10, 18G9. 



Remaeks. — The monthly edition in book 

 form of the Faejmer is well calculated to ob- 

 viate the difficulty of reference experienced in 

 the use of a weekly newspaper. In the vol- 

 ume for 1868, several articles on this breed of 

 cattle were published, which may readily be 

 referred to by the index which accompanies 

 the volume, and to some of these you proba- 

 bly refer. 



The cattle of Holland have long been cele- 

 brated for their size and excellence. A 

 French historian who wrote in 1350, said that 

 Holland had been famous for Its dairy pro- 

 ducts for live hundred years. In his history 

 of the United Netherlands, Mr. Motley says, 

 in speaking of Holland, "on that scrap of 

 solid ground, rescued by human energy from 

 the ocean, were the most fertile pastures in 

 the world. An ox often weighed more than 

 two thousand pounds." Mr. Chas. L. Flint, 

 who visited the great international exhibition 

 at Hamburg in 1863, speaks of the Dutch 

 cattle as a prominent and marked feature of 

 the show, and says they are renowned for their 

 dairy qualities. Some writers believe that the 



Dutch cattle were the foundation of the im- 

 proved breeds of England. 



The Dutch cattle, 'however, are compara- 

 tively new in this country, and time must de- 

 cide the question of their adaptation to our 

 climate and to our soil, which is certainly very 

 different from that of the section spoken of by 

 Mr. Motley. 



The breeders and friends of this stock are 

 quite enthusiastic and hopeful. They might 

 probably answer your questions somewhat dif- 

 ferently from what those would who have in- 

 vested their money in other improved breeds. 



Mr. Allen says, in his book on American 

 Cattle, that Mr. Chenery's herd, mostly im- 

 ported in 1861, is "the only herd of pure 

 bred Holstein or Dutch cattle known in the 

 country, except their descendants, which may 

 be in some other hands." 



As to the dairy qualities of the Dutch cat- 

 tle, Mr. Allen tays they have been long bred 

 and cultivated with a view to develop their 

 lacteal production to the utmost, and that they 

 are quick feeders and physiologically consti- 

 tuted to turn their food readily to milk, must 

 be evident. Messrs. W. E. & B. Simpson, 

 of Cambridgeport, Mass., state that a grade 

 Dutch cow owned by them, gave 6o9() wine 

 quarts in a year, her largest yield being thirty 

 quarts in one day, and averaging thirt)- (juarts 

 for about three months. 



As a beef animal, Mr. Allen says, they have 

 been, as yet, but partially tried in the half 



