APPENDIX 



Dairy Cows 



THE writer has not said anything about the best kind of cow for 

 producing clean milk, because it is as impossible to affirm posi- 

 tively which is the best breed of dairy cows as it would be to 

 state which is the best race of human beings. Each breed has its own 

 valuable characteristics which are in accord or otherwise with the 

 views of different cattle owners, depending on the experience, tempera- 

 ment or characteristics of the owner. 



The dairy breeds of chief importance are four : The Jerseys, 

 Guernseys, Holsteins and Ayrshires. The Brown Swiss and Short 

 Horn are called dual purpose cows ; that is, useful for milk and beef. 

 For dairy purposes alone they are inferior to the first four breeds men- 

 tioned, however. 



The milk of the Jerseys and Guernseys is rich in fat, DUt moder- 

 ate in amount (the Guernsey milk of especially deep yellow color) ; 

 the Holsteins are large milkers, but the percentage of fat in their milk 

 is low ; while the Ayrshires occupy an intermediate position — in 

 respect to quantity and richness of their milk — as compared with the 

 Jerseys and Holsteins. The milk of Jerseys and Guernseys is said to 

 be not quite so digestible for infants, perhaps on account of its larger 

 fat globules. This is apparently without true basis, however, since 

 the fat globules in human milk are larger than those in milk of any 

 breed of cows (see p. 45). If milk is fed undiluted to babies under 

 nine months, Jersey and Guernsey milk is undoubtedly too rich. If 

 this method of feeding is adopted, milk containing 3.5 per cent, fat or 

 less must be used. The milk is said to vary more in composition, in case 

 of the pure bred Jerseys (on account of their excitable temperaments) , 

 and these animals are possibly more prone to tuberculosis. Clean Jersey 

 or Guernsey milk is, however, infinitely preferable to the ordinary dirty 

 market milk of any other breed of cows, and the writer has found 

 that clean milk from grade Jersey cows (containing 5 per cent, fat) 

 will agree perfectly with infants, providing that it is diluted properly 

 in accordance with its fat content, see p. 170. The average consumer 



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