THE JERSEY, ALDER KEY AND GUERNSEY COW 47 



duction of the elements of judgment and skill in the 

 work of improving our butter-dairy cows We shall 

 henceforth be able to trace out the ancestors of animals 

 offered for sale, and to learn something of their charac- 

 ter ; and we may have some better and more satisfac- 

 tory guide in making our selections than the simple fact 

 that the animal was bred on the Island of Jersey, and 

 that it has a solid color and black points. 



" Whether we have or have not now in this country 

 better animals than are to be found in Jersey is a dis- 

 puted question , but that we have here ample material 

 for the development of such herds as Jersey never saw 

 cannot be doubted. In fact, a recent visitor to the 

 island has stated that such a thing as a herd does not 

 exist there, even the most celebrated breeders keeping 

 but from two or three to a dozen animals all told. The 

 care given to the race in so limited a region, where 

 careful inspection is not out of the question, has resulted 

 in its great improvement ; and there are doubtless indi- 

 vidual animals that it would be diflficult, if not impos- 

 sible, to equal here. These are by no means the ani- 

 mals that are sold for exportation. That the Jersey 

 breeders do not claim for themselves great superiority 

 for the development of the race may be inferred from 

 the following quotation from the Report of the Commit- 

 tee of the Agricultural Department submitted to the 

 Royal Jersey Society in 1868: *The Committee beg 

 leave to call public attention tp the results of careful 

 breeding as practised by Mr. P. Dauncey, Horwood 



