UB 81 -] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
55 
The Jersey Cow, “Coomassie.” 
A recent visit to Jersey allowed us to see 
,the most celebrated herds and the most highly 
esteemed single animals upon the Island. No 
cow was so frequently mentioned and praised 
as “Coomassie,” and we were glad to find, 
upon an inspection, 
that she had not 
been overpraised, 
but that her reputa¬ 
tion as one of the 
most noted animals 
upon the Island was 
well founded. “Coo¬ 
massie,” No. 1442, J, 
H. B., is owned by 
C. F. Dorey, Esq., 
of Trinity Parish. 
She was calved in 
1871, and in 1874 
won the Parochial 
prize at the Show of 
the Royal Jersey 
Agricultural Socie¬ 
ty. An account of 
her remarkable ca¬ 
reer as a prize-taker 
is thus given in 
Thornton’s “History 
of Jersey Cattle: ” 
“In 1875 she took 
the first prize at 
the Trinity and St. Martin’s Local Show; 
in 1876, the first prize at theR. J. A. S. Show ; 
in 1877, at the Trinity and St. Martin’s Local, 
first and Parochial prize at the R. J. A. S. May 
Show, and second and Parochial prize at the 
Special Show, August 2d; in 1878, first prize 
in the Extra Class for prize-takers only, and 
third prize for cows giving the richest milk.” 
In these shows, where competition is so active, 
the number of animals in each class is so 
large, and the judging so close and critical, 
a second, or even a third prize means more 
than it does with 
us, where judging is 
often hurried, and 
anything less than 
a first prize is re¬ 
garded of little 
value. The engrav¬ 
ing, which accurate¬ 
ly reproduces an ex¬ 
cellent photograph, 
gives a good idea of 
“ Coomassie.” The 
breeders of Jerseys, 
to meet the demands 
of fashion, have evi¬ 
dently been breed¬ 
ing for fancy points 
too exclusively for 
many years, and 
often to the disre¬ 
gard of more es¬ 
sential characters. 
There are still many 
animals upon the 
Island, of which 
‘ ‘ Coomassie ” may 
be regarded as a type, that indicate that the 
highest quality is not of necessity associated 
with solid colors, black switches, etc. Such 
animals, under a judicious system of selec¬ 
tion and breeding, would serve as the founda¬ 
tion of families that might rank among the 
very best for all useful qualities, and even add 
to the already high reputation as butter- 
makers now enjoyed by the Jerseys. Butter 
making being the test, there are better Jerseys 
here than on the Island. When we repeated 
the records of ‘ ‘Alphea ” ‘ ‘ Jersey Belle of Scit- 
uate” and* ‘Eurotas,” as given in these columns 
last year, to our Jersey friends, they were too 
gentlemanly to imply a doubt, but their “ very 
extraordinary” was given in a tone which 
said as plainly as words : “ How was it done!” 
Some African Cattle. 
In tracing the origin of the breeds of do¬ 
mesticated cattle, as they now exist in vari¬ 
ous countries, naturalists have come to the 
conclusion that they have descended from sev¬ 
eral different species, which are now mostly 
extinct. The domestic cattle of southern 
countries have a more or less prominent 
hump on the back, while northern cattle are 
without this mark, and it is supposed that the 
breeds with humps and the humpless breeds 
must have had a very different ancestry. In 
Africa, where there is a very strict separation 
into tribes that have little or no intercourse 
with one another, there are found several well 
marked breeds of humped cattle, those of one 
tribe differing from those of another, by rea¬ 
son of long continued breeding without any 
intermixture from without. Some of these 
breeds have short and stout horns, and large 
legs and feet; others have long slender horns 
and small feet; others still are marked by 
long horns and a remarkable development of 
the switch or brush 
at the end of the 
tail, which is long 
and brushy, and 
nearly touches the 
ground. With few 
exceptions these 
breeds of humped 
cattle are marked by 
unusual length of 
the horns, which, in 
the Bechuana cattle 
measure about eight 
feet from tip to tip. 
Some of the tribes 
split the horns into 
ribbons at the tips, 
and others, by shav¬ 
ing from one side of 
the horns while they 
are young, caueo 
them to bend into 
fantastic shapes, and 
the more the horns 
are distorted the 
greater the value of 
the animal. Besides their use for draft, the 
African oxen are employed as pack-animals, 
and by some of the tribes for riding. These 
animals are said to be remarkably intelligent, 
knowing and being quite inoffensive to every 
inhabitant of the village or member of the 
tribe, but rushing with great fury at any 
stranger. Their fighting propensity is made 
use of by some the Hottentot tribes who 
train the oxen to aid them in their battles. 
According to one writer, these “Backel- 
eyers,” as the fighting oxen are called, make 
terrible slaughter. 
“ They gore and 
kick and trample to 
death with incredi¬ 
ble fury,” while to 
their owners they 
are remarkably do¬ 
cile and as obedient 
to the word of com¬ 
mand as a well 
trained dog. The 
engraving gives a 
characteristic group 
of South African 
oxen, though there 
are some with a still 
larger development 
of both hump and 
horn than is here 
shown. Indeed, the 
size of the horn 
seems to be one of 
their least constant 
characteristics, for 
there are even horn¬ 
less breeds among 
the humped cattle of Africa, and among those 
of Asia there is a breed, the horns of which 
are without the bony core, and are only at¬ 
tached by the skin. The humped cattle of 
Asia are best known by the Brahmin breed, 
seen in menageries as the “Sacred Bull of 
Brahma.” This differs from the Afrioan cat¬ 
tle in the shape of the hump and horns. 
A GROUP OP THE HUMPED CATTLE OP AFRICA. 
