HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN CATTLE. 



CHAPTER I. 



HISTORICAL HOLLAND, A COW'S PARADISE. 



The first importation to America of cattle from Holland was undoubtedly 

 made by the early Dutch settlers. The history of the Holstein-Friesian breed 

 in America, probably, begins with the importation sent out to John Lincklaen, 

 agent of the Holland Land Company at Cazenovia, Madison Co., New York, in 

 1795. These early importations had but little permanent effect upon the cattle 

 of the country, and the first really practical work of introducing the great 

 Dutch Dairy breed began with the importations of Winthrop W. Chenery, of 

 Belmont, Mass., in 1861. There is so much of interest in this wonderful breed 

 that you turn to ancient history for details of its origin, but with meagre satis- 

 faction, however. The historian Motley said, in speaking of Holland in the 

 seventeenth century: "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 

 2,000 Ibs., the cows produced two and three calves at a time, and the sheep four 

 and five lambs. In a single village 4,000 kine were counted. Butter and cheese 

 were exported to the annual value of one million dollars, salted provisions to 

 an incredible extent. The farmers were industrious, thriving and independent." 



A French historian, writing in 1350, says : " At a certain siege the besieged 

 could only receive their supply of butter from Holland, which had been fam- 

 ous for its dairy products for five hundred years." 



Along the western shores of the European continent, between the 51st 

 and 54th parallels, the stnall kingdom of the Netherlands stretches its sandy 

 dunes and mighty dikes, whereby this low and level country is guarded against 

 the ravages of the North Sea. As a nation its inhabitants have made their 

 mark in the history of the world. As a colonial power it still ranks only second 

 to England, and as a dairy country it attracts the attention of breeders of dairy 

 cattle in all parts of the world. The wonderful adaptability of the soil and 

 climate has brought about the rearing and breeding of cattle, from the very 

 moment that the low lands of Northwestern Europe became inhabited by the 

 Friesians and Batavians. 



From the earliest accounts of the Friesian people they have dwelt upon 

 the shores of the North Sea and possessed herds of cattle, from which they 

 derived their chief means of support. Their history commences about three 

 hundred years before the Christian era. They then inhabited a country 

 between the river Ems and the middle arm of the Rhine. From whence they 

 came is a matter of conjecture. There is a tradition that their progenitors 

 came out of India and that the mother of the race was as white as snow. They 

 appear, even at that early date, to have been a peaceable people, loving pastoral 

 pursuits. If it is true that they came from Central Asia it is probable that 

 they brought their cattle with them and that they journeyed westward to the 

 shores of the North Sea in search of pasturage. Two hundred years later a 

 German tribe came out of Hesse, a district on the upper Rhine, where they 

 were living in hostility with their neighbors, and settled on the shores of the 

 North Sea near the Friesians. They first occupied an island formed by the 

 rivers Rhine, Maas and Waal, to which they gave the name of Batavia. They 

 were also breeders of cattle, but whether they brought their herds with them 

 or obtained them from the Friesians is unknown. It has been conjectured that 

 they brought their cattle with them and that their cattle were black ; that 



