28 ORIGIN OP BREEDS 



present-day cattle of Holland, known in America as the Holstein- 

 I'riesian, are probably the best present representatives of the 

 large race. The Jerseys are good representatives of the smaller 

 race, while the Guernseys and most of the breeds of England 

 and Scotland are doubtless mixtures of the two races. 



Our present breeds were developed by keeping a few animals 

 continually in a certain valley or on a certain mountain-side 

 where they were subjected to the same feed and climatic changes, 

 and where they were, so far as the group was concerned, inbred. 

 The whim or fashion prevailing in one community would also 

 make, in time, something different from that in an adjoining 

 valley, even though the original stock may have been similar or 

 practically identical. Thus we find that the little country of 

 Switzerland has developed two major breeds, and several minor 

 ones, while the various provinces of Germany, France, Austria 

 and Hungary are represented by animals similar to but slightly 

 different from those in nearby regions. In this way breeds have 

 started, which when refined by skillful- feeding, selection and 

 breeding, have developed into the magnificent breeds of the 

 present time. 



The value of having pure breeds is chiefly that the man who 

 selects cattle for any particular purpose may be able to choose by 

 name essentially what he wants, and then be reasonably certain 

 that the offspring shall continue to be of the same quality, whether 

 it is meat or milk that is chiefly desired. It is of primary im- 

 portance, therefore, that the breeds be made to stand for some- 

 thing definite, not only in the single item of economical milk or 

 butter or beef production, but also in its other qualities which are 

 the outward mark or proof of the breed, namely, such items as 

 color, size and temperament. At present some breeders of both 

 Jersey and Guernsey cattle prefer the large size with milder 

 disposition, while others work for the smaller, more highly re- 

 fined animals. The value of both breeds unquestionably has 

 been lessened by these long-continued differences of aim on the 

 part of the bi-eeders. This seems inevitable in a large country 

 and points to a reason why most of the prominent breeds have 

 sprung from very small places. 



