PUBLIC COMPETITIONS, 1892. 107 



The Holstein cow Schoone that took sweepstakes at this fair in 1891 had 

 not had a calf since August, 1891, but made a remarkable performance. Her 

 yield of milk was 18.60 Ibs., showing .72 Ibs. of butter fat. The Brown Swiss 

 cow which competed for this prize had been in milk fourteen months, and on a 

 yield of 19.8 Ibs. of milk made .99 Ibs. of butter fat. 



J. McLain Smith, the Red Poll breeder, commented in the Breeders Gazette 

 as follows upon the tests of 1892 : "The important tests for the fall are all now 

 reported, and we are able to make a comparative study of the results attained. 

 In these trials New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas and 

 Nebraska we have tests of seventy cows and heifers, viz.: twenty-seven Jer- 

 seys, twenty Holstein-Friesians, ten Shorthorns, six Ayrshires, five Red Polls 

 and two Brown Swiss. Quite a number of these, however, were heifers milking 

 with first calf, and some were cows very far on in lactation milking a year or 

 more. Omitting these and confining attention to the cows in full milk, we 

 have the following results by breeds, viz.: 



'Sixteen Holstein-Friesians average 45. 91 Ibs. milk, containing 1.45 Ibs. fat. 



'Fifteen Jerseys average 25.67 Ibs. milk, containing 1.27 Ibs. fat. 



'Ten Shorthorns average 31.53 Ibs. milk, containing 1.07 Ibs. fat. 



' Five Red Polls average 39.07 Ibs. milk, containing 1.57 Ibs. fat. 



'Four Ayrshires average 29.75 Ibs. milk, containing 1.12 Ibs. fat. 



'One Brown Swiss gave 35.5 Ibs. milk, containing 1.23 Ibs. fat. 



' Comparing individual cows the best by far is a Holstein Empress Joseph- 

 ine 3d, in the Kansas test with a yield of 65 Ibs. 1 oz. of milk and 2.62 Ibs. of 

 fat. And it is not only the best yield reported this fall, but it is the best ever 

 attained in a public test in this country, with the single exception of the Brown 

 Swiss cow Brienz in the Chicago test last fall. The second best cow is also a 

 Holstein-Friesian Lady of Lyons 4th, in the Ohio test with a yield of 66 Ibs. 

 of milk, containing 2.27 Ibs. of fat. But the average made by the breed does 

 not sustain these fine records, though two of the best cows Empress Josephine 

 3d and Gold Leaf 2d, belonging to C. F. Stone, Peabody, Kan. count three 

 times, as they appear in the Kansas, the Nebraska and the Illinois tests, and 

 were the best of the breed in each case. Indeed, judging from the entries in 

 the Western tests and the records made, it looks a little as if there were but 

 one herd of the breed in that section containing any very good milkers. Aside 

 from these two cows, the best record made by a Holstein-Friesian in the West 

 was by Aggie Beck in the Wisconsin test with a yield of 44.5 Ibs. of milk, con- 

 taining 1.56 Ibs. of fat. 



"Except the two cows referred to Empress Josephine 3d and Lady of 

 Lyons 4th there is no yield in any of the tests showing as much as 2 Ibs. of fat 

 from twenty-four hours' milk. The best Jersey record was made in the Indi- 

 ana test by Esther Thorne with a yield of 37.5 Ibs. of milk, containing 1.79 Ibs. 

 of fat. The best Red Polled cow was Mayflower, with a yield of 44.11 Ibs. of 

 milk, containing 1.72 Ibs. of fat. The best Shorthorn, Fillpail 7th, in the New 

 York test, gave 42 Ibs. 3 oz. of milk, containing 1.31 Ibs. of fat. The best 

 Ayrshire, Cordelia, in the Indiana test, gave 37.5 Ibs. of milk, containing 1.12 

 Ibs. of fat. The best Brown Swiss was Mai, in the Illinois test, with a yield of 

 35.5 Ibs. of milk, containing 1.13 Ibs. of fat. 



" If we consider average yields in the tests of this fall, the Red Polls came 

 to the front with their yield of 1.57 Ibs. of fat. They have the advantage in the 

 comparison in that they were tested at home ; but the same conditions were 

 offered the Jerseys and the Shorthorns in Ohio, and they failed to respond. 

 How much advantage this is no one knows certainly. Two of these same 

 cows were in the public test on the fair ground last year. One, and the best 

 one, gave almost precisely rhe same 1.71 Ibs. in public, 1.72 at home. The 

 other cow was considerably better in the home test, but the difference is 

 believed to be more in the milker than in the place. In the public test she was 

 milked by a boy not accustomed to her. 



"But making reasonable allowance for this, the average of the Red Polls 

 would still be the best, and would show that the breed is entitled to high rank 

 for dairy purposes. This becomes still more manifest if we compare their rec- 

 ord with that of the Jerseys at the London Dairy Show. In the tests at this 

 show prior to 1888, 118 Jerseys tested gave an average of 27.87 Ibs. of milk, con- 

 taining 1.27 Ibs. of fat. In the years 1888 and 1889, forty-three Jerseys gave an 

 average of 28.41 Ibs. of milk a day, containing 1.55 Ibs. of fat. 



" In this test the prizes are awarded according to the score made, based on 



