1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
135 
The Guernsey Breed of Cattle. 
The cattle of the little island of Guernsey bear its 
siame, but if a visitor to the island asks about the 
•cattle there he will probably be told that they are 
■of the Alderney breed, or that they are identically 
•of the same breed as those of the adjacent island of 
Alderney. It is indeed true that the cattle of these 
two islands are very closely allied, the islands them¬ 
selves are in the same judicial district, the same 
laws govern the importation of neat stock, and oc¬ 
casional transfers of stock take place. This, how¬ 
ever, does not make Guernseys, Alderneys. There 
is really no such breed as the Alderney, but that 
name, as has been often before explained, was 
given in England, and more or less in this country, 
indiscriminately, to any of the cattle of the Channel 
Islands—that is, to both Jerseys and Guernseys. 
Stringent regulations prevent the introduction of 
breeding cattle from anywhere else, even those of 
the sister island of Jersey are subject to the em¬ 
bargo, and are not regarded as of the same race; 
though in Jersey the cross with the Guernsey has 
been taken and valued, and the regulations which 
■enforce the immediate slaughter of any cattle capa¬ 
ble of breeding which are brought to the island 
from anywhere else, do not apply to those of the 
other islands of the Channel Island group. Thus 
it would appear that in the opinion of the islanders 
themselves the Guernseys are the choice breed of 
the Channel, improving the Jerseys but not them¬ 
selves benefited by the Jersey or any other cross. 
They differ groatly from the Jerseys in many re¬ 
Fig. 2.— Guernsey heifeu “miss Alice.” —Owned by 
spects. They have little or none of that peculiar 
deer-like style and expression which characterize 
the Jerseys. They are coarser in bone, heavier in 
carcass, larger every way, and naturally less pre¬ 
cocious. They are allowed to first calve at about 
two and a half years old, which gives them more 
size and probably also a tendency to carry flesh. 
Their breeders are not unmindful of the facts that 
the size of the calves, and the aptitude of the cat¬ 
tle to make beef and turn off well when their use¬ 
fulness in the dairy is from any cause at an end, are 
matters of no small importance to the so-called 
“ common farmers ”—that is, to all who are obliged 
to study closely the. economies of farming. The 
Guernseys are preeminently the farmer’s cow for 
cream and butter production, and for coloring the 
butter of other cows. So strong are the race 
'Characteristics (prepotency) that grades, even only 
half-breds, possess the best qualities of full bloods 
to a remarkable degree. It might be inferred that 
the Guernseys are not a good looking breed; the 
contrary is true of many specimens. There are in¬ 
deed among them not a few whose sloping rumps, 
big heads and heavy limbs are not ornamental, but 
as these are likely to be the very best milkers and 
butter cows of the herd, their defects are easily 
overlooked, or even magnified into virtues or points 
of beauty. For instance, the long head and broad 
square muzzle are regarded as characteristics of 
value if not of beauty, and one can hardly visit a 
Guernsey herd, either in this country or on the 
island, without having this feature pointed out and 
dilated upon. The colors which predominate in 
Guernsey cattle are yellow, redish-yellow, fawn, 
brown shading to nearly black, light-fawn, and yel¬ 
lowish-fawn, dun of various shades, never, how¬ 
ever, inclining to gray, as is usual among Jerseys. 
These colors are more or less mingled with white, 
which is most fre¬ 
quently met with 
upon the belly and 
flanks, the legs, 
switch, and face. 
A star, or rather a 
triangular spot in 
the forehead, with 
a white switch, are 
regarded as char¬ 
acteristic, even 
though scarcely 
any other white is 
obvious. Solid col¬ 
ored cattle occur, 
but the fashion has 
never set decidedly 
in that direction, 
and asusefulpoints 
have so greatly the 
preponderance in 
the estimation of 
Guernsey breeders, 
it is earnestly to be 
hoped that they will not lend themselves to the 
folly of placing a fictitious value upon any color 
points. It is enough if the colors of a fine animal 
arc agreeable and indicative of purity of blood 
Briudle not uufrequently occurs either as obscure 
lines upon the head and neck 
(black upon fawn or reddish- 
fawn), or more extensively 
covering the body. It is not 
an admired color, but is cer¬ 
tainly no indication of impu¬ 
rity. The skin of the Guern¬ 
seys is soft, pliable, and unc¬ 
tuous, abundantly supplied 
with “yolk,” which is almost 
universally of a rich orange- 
peel color. This is, of course, 
most conspicuous within the 
ears, and when the hair is 
parted upon white spots, espe¬ 
cially on the head and should¬ 
ers. The udder, scrotum, and 
the nearly hairless parts, like 
the spots between the fore¬ 
legs and brisket, and around 
E. F. Bowditcli , Esq. eyes, have a similar rich 
yellow glow, while the muzzle, which is character¬ 
istically black in the Jerseys, is white or buff in 
the Guernseys, and usually encircled by a fillet of 
light short hair, though this marking is much 
less conspicuous than in the before named breed. 
The Guernseys are cer¬ 
tainly deeper average 
milkers than the Jer¬ 
seys. It can not be said, 
perhaps, that they give 
richer milk, but it is 
much higher colored, 
and will impart its beau¬ 
tiful tint to the butter 
of a number of common 
cows, being in this re¬ 
spect decidedly superior 
to the Jerseys. As to 
the quality of the but¬ 
ter, aside from color, 
there is nothing to 
choose between them; 
and as to which breed 
will give the most milk, 
or make the most but¬ 
ter upon a given quan¬ 
tity of feed, that has 
never been determined. 
Cow for cow, the Guern¬ 
seys have the advantage in size, and would proba¬ 
bly on that account not produce eo much in pro¬ 
portion to their live weight. As a breed, the cows 
have excellent udders, and teats which fill a man’s 
hand. Many are well marked, according to the 
Guenon theory. They hold out well in their milk, 
arc quiet, docile, and tractable both on the tether 
and in the pasture ; in short, for general useful¬ 
ness, as butter yielders, they are nearly perfect. 
Fig. 1.— guernsey bull “hubert.” —Owned by F. F. Bowditcli, Esq. 
The history of the breed in this country is briefly 
told. Guernseys were imported both into Massa¬ 
chusetts and Pennsylvania nearly 40 years ago, and 
not long after into New York. Wherever they 
were bred they made both their mark and fast 
friends ; but the distinction between them and the 
Jerseys, which were then universally called Alder¬ 
neys—a name which has been rather indiscrimi¬ 
nately used as applied to any cattle from the Chan¬ 
nel Islands—was not generally recognized, and the 
blood was in many cases mingled and lost. A few 
herds have been kept pure with jealous care, and 
these, with recent importations, form the basis of 
the registered or herd-book stock now for the first 
time making a figure among the pure breeds of this 
country. The Guernsey is a favorite breed in Eng¬ 
land, and has there been bred either pure or crossed 
with the Shorthorns for milk and butter purposes ; 
and noble cows indeed are those cross-bred Guern¬ 
sey Shorthorns—very large, perfect handlers, rich 
and deep milkers—genuine ideal dairy cows. In 
this country, as already intimated, they are a good 
deal crossed with the Jerseys. There is at least one 
entire herd of some 40 or 50 milch cows, all of 
which contain a mixture of the blood of these two 
breeds ; a Guernsey bull having been kept some 
years at the head of the herd, and then changed for 
a Jersey. The result is a herd of cows of great 
uniformity, combining the style and great beauty 
of the Jerseys with the heavier carcass, better beef 
points, and richness of color of the Guernseys, 
Fig. 3.— guernsey cow “ marie.” —Owned by E. F. Bowditcli, Esq. 
while the excellencies of both breeds combine in 
the cross to form a milch animal of unusual value. 
The breeders of Guernseys in this country formed 
themselves into a “Club” two years ago, for the 
purpose of establishing a public registration of 
