CHAPTER XII. 



The Guernsey Grade Cow 



There is in every city a constantly increasing demand for 

 high-class milk, and by this is meant milk that combines clean- 

 liness, yellow color, and high content of fat and total solids. 

 This demand is apart from the demand for certified milk, 

 which depends almost entirely upon its cleanliness for its 

 market. 



There are now hundreds of cities in this country where 

 first grade milk is selling for eight, 10 and even 12c per quart, 

 and produced under conditions that are no better than ought 

 to prevail on every dairy farm. A large part of the milk that 

 sells for these prices is produced by herds of purebred or grade 

 Guernsey cows. 



AVhile the number of herds of purebred Guernseys is con- 

 stantlv increasing, it will be a century or more before the 

 number of purebred animals can have increased sufficiently 

 to fill the demand for cows for this use, and it will be in- 

 finitely longer before this will be done. The bulk of the 

 farmers who desire an efficient cow must therefore depend on 

 the grade Guernsey to get her. 



The leading characteristics of the Guernsey grade are, 

 of course, essentially the same as of her full-blood sister. She 

 is first of all unusually quiet and gentle and therefore less ex- 

 cited by strangers or strange conditions than a more nervous 

 cow. This point is worthy of more attention than it usually 

 receives. She is quite invariably an easy milker, having al- 

 most ideal teats. She is of a size (weighing 1,000 to 1,200 

 pounds) that at once appeals to the dairyman ; and while of 

 much less importance than her other characteristics, still she 

 is universally liked on account of her size. 



The Guernsey has so often proved herself the most eco- 

 nomical producer of butterfat that it seems unnecessary to 

 write upon this point, but if prospective dairymen wdio are 

 debating which breed to select would study this point of eco- 

 nomical production as much as it deserves, the^' would turn 

 to the Guernsey in even greater numljers than at present. In 

 the hurry to get a big production of milk its quality and cost 

 of production are too often overlooked. The grade Guernsey 

 cow will test for the year 3.5 to 5.5 per cent, varying, of course, 

 with dififerent individuals, and it is safe to say that her milk 



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