468 



CATTLE 



which they have been bred under uniform conditions. In the 

 essential characteristics of color and general conformation, pre- 

 potency is very manifest. 



The adaptability of the Brown Swiss to a wide range of con- 

 ditions seems apparent. The native home of these cattle is in the 

 mountains, where they thrive on rations that would not be regarded 

 as satisfactory in America, and where they are distinctly hardy. 

 The herds kept in the more sterile sections of the eastern United 

 States seem to thrive equally well with those in the corn belt 

 of the West. No doubt they have a special place in dairy sections, 

 notably in the more elevated regions, where a rugged breed is 



desirable. From the 

 profit point of view 

 it is doubtful if they 

 can compete satisfac- 

 torily with some of 

 our other breeds in 

 the fertile West. 



The Brown Swiss 

 cattle in milk produc- 

 tion make a remarka- 

 bly creditable showing. 

 Numerous records of 

 Swiss dairies show comparatively large production for these cows. 

 F. H. Mason, as United States consul in Switzerland, reports 

 that at Cham the 6000 cows supplying the Anglo-Swiss Con- 

 densed Milk Company yielded 5315 pounds each. These cows 

 were milked for an average of about nine months and were fed 

 only grass and hay. The average annual production of 72 herds 

 in Switzerland, as published from records gathered by the Swiss 

 Union of Cattle Breeders,^ shows an average yield of 4985.8 

 kilos, or 10,969 pounds, with an average fat content of 3.88 per 

 cent. The first recorded test of a Brown Swiss cow in America 

 proved very sensational, for on this occasion the cow Brienz 

 168, in November, 1891, at the American Fat-Stock Show, pro- 

 duced 81.7 pounds of milk per day for three days, which con- 

 tained a total of 9.32 pounds fat. For many years this was one 



1 The Bovine Breeds of Switzerland, p. 20. 



Fig. 208. Waldi, second-prize Brown Swiss bull at 

 Lucerne, 1913- From photograph by the author 



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