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THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



The BuUer'Making Capaciiy of the Jerseym 



MR. JAMES LONG, in the "Agricul- 

 tural Gazette," writes :— It is not 

 easy in these days of great performances 

 on the part of dairy cattle to differentia' e 

 as between leading breeds, and to deter- 

 mine which breed is likely to prove the 

 most profitaljle on any particular farm. 

 Possibly much depends upon the pre- 

 ference of the owner of a herd, his likes 

 and dislikes, upon the hel]) ho is likely to 

 obtain in his own household, and on the 

 amount of energy which he is disposed 

 to introduce into the business of batter 

 production. Even though it be possible, 

 owing to the help of some skilled maker, 

 to produce the very finest article, it may 

 be found uneconomical to produce butter 

 if there is no one to take any iaterest in 

 its sale. Mere delivery to a couiilry pro- 

 vision dealer is not likely to be attended 

 with success ; hence, whatever may be 

 proved on the part of the Jersey, it does 

 not follow that she may suit the require- 

 ments or fit the capabilities uf those to 

 whom she is able to render great service. 

 Given, however, a case in which a dairy 

 farmer is able to devote real interest in 

 the breed which he believes will pay him 

 best, and that he possesses a first- clas-s 

 butter maker, the means to obtain the 

 best cattle possible, and the energy to sell 

 the produce to the best advantage, then it 

 is by no means certain that the Jersey is 

 not the most profitable cow in existence. 

 Kefei'ence is not made to heids as they 

 exist, but to the capacity of individual 

 animals, and what might be rather than 

 wliat is. No. doubt if a test were made 

 as between the best Shorthorns to be 

 found and the best Jerseys, there woul '. 

 be discovered more supporters ol the 

 large than of the small cattle, but it does 

 not follow that the small cattle would not 

 win if net profit were to form the basis 

 of the i-esult. Perhaps we may take it for 

 granted that what exists in one particular 

 case may be found to exist in another ; 

 that if one Shorthorn is capable of pro- 

 ducing 1,100 or 1,200 gallons of milk in a 

 year, others can be found to do the same, 

 and, similarly, if one Jersey can be found 

 to produce 2^ to 3 lbs, of butter in a day 

 at the end of six months after calving, 



there are others which can do approxi- 

 mately as good or better work. I desire 

 to endeavour to show what is possible on 

 the part of the Jersey, and I take as an 

 example one of the two best cows, each 

 of which produced 2 lbs 6| ozs. of butter 

 in a day during the recent test in Jersey 

 Island. The cow in question is named 

 Fancy's Rose ; she gave 30^ lbs. cf milk, 

 from which 2 lbs. G| ozs. of butter were 

 obtained, and this was 240 days, or eight 

 months, after calving. Most of us have 

 3'et to learn that a cow reaches her maxi- 

 mum when her owner is thinking about 

 drying her off. I hope it is not an 

 assumption of an improper character, but 

 few, if any, readers will deny that she 

 must have given at least as much butter 

 per day, cn the average, since she calved, 

 inasmuch as she had passed through the 

 whole of her best milking sea-on, and, 

 therefore, it cannot be unfair to argue 

 that she should have given at least an 

 average of 2 lbs. G ozs. of butter during 

 the whole of the 240 days. Jersey butter 

 is not an article which has a market quo- 

 tation in this country, but I believe, 

 speaking from what personal friends 

 obtain, tliat this butter is easily sold at 

 Is. Gd. a pound throughout the year. Let 

 us, however, in this case base its value 

 upon an average price of IGd. ; at this 

 rate 570 lbs. of butter, taking no account 

 of the odd half-ounce per di\j, would 

 have realised in eight months £38. 

 Again, if we assume that the average 

 milk yield was as much as, but no more 

 than, the quantity given on the day of the 

 trial, and make a fair deduction to account 

 for the waste in tutter-making, we get 

 the (juantity of skim milk to be valued 

 as equal to 6G0 gallons, which, at 2d. 

 a gallon, is equal to £5 10s. If it were 

 sold for the consumption of man it would 

 be or should be worth considerably more, 

 but Jersey milk is worth every fraction 

 of the figure allowed for the feeding of 

 calves alone. Here, then, we have a re- 

 turn of £43 10s. for eight months' milk- 

 ing ; but we surely have something yet 

 to add. If we allow the cow to milk for 

 two months longer, or sixty days, and 

 take an average of one-half the yield 



