SOME AMERICAN BREEDERS. 287 



Mr. Powell has led a very busy life, confining himself closely to business, 

 but he has found time to give much personal attention to the breeding and 

 development of live stock. Few breeders have made it so much of a study, 

 and probably no one has had a larger experience in breeding and developing 

 Holstein-Friesian cattle. 



The firm has imported and bred over 3,000 head of cattle of this breed. 

 The herd at Lakeside has frequently exceeded 600 head at one time, and yet 

 nearly all the cows in milk have been tested for both milk and butter. Some 

 idea of the amount of time and labor expended in this direction can be con- 

 ceived when it is known that over 100 cows of this herd have made weekly 

 butter records which average over 19^ Ibs., and about fifty cows have made 

 yearly milk records which average over 17,000 Ibs. 



All who have made tests can appreciate what an amount of careful intelli- 

 gent work must have been done to have attained such wonderful results. We 

 know of no other herd, of any breed, that can show such results from an equal 

 number of cows. The benefits of this work have not been confined to this 

 herd, or to this firm, but they have been shared by every breeder of Holstein- 

 Friesian cattle in the land. 



MR. FRANK ROE was born on the farm now owned by him, on March 12, 

 1854, near Augusta, Sussex county, New Jersey; was married in 1875 to Maggie 

 C. Dalrymple, a neighbor's daughter and a schoolmate, who has always taken 

 as great an interest in the development of their new dairy of Holsteins as her 

 husband and children one boy and one girl, who are both interested in the 

 business at this time. The farm was bought by Mr. Roe's grandfather, from 

 William Roe, of Orange county. N. Y., in the year 1799. From this date the 

 farm has been owned by the Roe family, and always used as a dairy farm. 

 The father of the present owner, William H. Roe, was a fancier of fine cows, 

 and kept a high-grade dairy of Shorthorns. 



The Shorthorn in those days was strictly a dairy breed, as much so as the 

 Ayrshire and Holstein are at the present time. This dairy produced more than 

 300 Ibs. of butter a year, and always brought the top price in market. When 

 Mr. Roe bought the farm in 1878 eighteen cows and four heifers came into his 

 possession. In this lot there were a number that would give 60 Ibs. of milk 

 daily with ordinary feed and care. The following year, 1879, thirteen of the 

 lot aborted, and the following year four more. As they were nearly all old 

 cows, they were used as long as they gave milk, then turned into beef, and 

 their places filled with the best native cows that could be bought in the neigh- 

 borhood, and a pure-bred Ayrshire bull was obtained for use on this dairy. 

 This course was continued until the whole dairy was turned into grade Ayr- 

 shires, by raising their heifer calves from the best milking cows. This dairy 

 gave good satisfaction as milk producers of a fair quality, the only trouble 

 being their tendency to turn too much of their feed into beef. In fact, they 

 were always fat, but gave a good-paying mess of milk, and were always ready 

 for the butcher as soon as dry. 



The next step was to buy a pure-bred Holstein-Friesian bull to breed on 

 these grade Ayrshire cows. From this cross was obtained a very fine animal, 

 larger than the Ayrshire, a trifle coarser, and a cow that turned feed into milk 

 and not into beef. They gave as much as 25 per cent more milk than their 

 dams. But it had fallen off very much in quality, and soon complaints were 

 received from the milkman about it. The milk was finally stopped, and the 

 accusation made that it had been watered. Another milkman was obtained, 

 but in a short time the same trouble followed, and the milk was stopped the 

 second time. Then the milk was sold for a number of years to a iiear-by cream- 

 ery. While selling to the creamery there were so many complaints about the 

 Duality that it was about decided to give up the Holsteins, and try the little 

 ersey or Guernsey. About this time C. H. Vandevort, of Amity, N. Y., a 

 breeder of pure-bred Holstein-Friesians, was about to sell his whole dairy at 

 public auction. While on an advertising trip to this county he stayed one 

 night with Mr. Roe. Of course, he was informed of the trouble with the grade 

 Holsteins, and was asked if he was not selling his pure ones for the same rea- 

 son. This he denied, and insisted on Mr. Roe's going to his sale, and trying to 

 buy some cows from his dairy. This Mr. Roe consented to do, with the under- 

 standing that he could test the whole dairy for cream before the sale, so that 

 he would be able to buy intelligently on the day of the sale. 



