172 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
tfniffniw; 
ALDERNEY COW “SYLPH.” 
American Cattle—IV 
[Continued from page 133. 
THE ALDERNEY, OR JERSEY. 
This quaint little body, of the cow kind, on her 
first appearance to those who have been accus¬ 
tomed to the fine proportions and imposing front 
of the Short-Horn, or the beautiful and graceful 
Devon, may provoke a smile of derision at her 
plebian dimensions, and meek, and quiet demean¬ 
or. We shall not soon forget the outburst of a 
huge and brawny Kentuckian, who, in ranging 
over the cattle quarters of a great Western Agri¬ 
cultural Show, and gloating over the broad di¬ 
mensions of the Short-Horns as he passed them, 
one after another, fell upon a quiet little Alderney 
cow, with her timid wee calf at her side, coming 
to a full halt, and throwing up his hands aghast: 
“ Well— well —if that theer thing ar’n’t a smasher ! 
If I should come across such a varmint as that in 
a field of mine, I'd pitch it over the fence sooner’n 
I ’ould a ’possum ! I say, stranger,” addressing 
himself to the late lloswell L. Colt’s herdsman, 
whom that fine old gentleman had sent all the 
way from New-Jersey to Ohio to show the good 
people there the lacteal qualities of his cherished 
little Alderneys—“ if you can’t find no better 
bis’ness than tending such a critter as that, you’d 
better job yourself out to shucking corn on a riv¬ 
er bottom !” and on he rolled, wondering “ what 
corn cribs was good for, if nothing bigger nor bet¬ 
ter lookin’ than sich as that was made to eat ’em !” 
Inferior and diminutive as she seems, the Al¬ 
derney is a gem among cows. She is the pet of 
ne English aristocracy, who prize her creamy 
milk and golden butter beyond that of any other 
British cow, be her looks and lineage what they 
may. And, holding in admiration equal to any 
other, the giand and graceful qualities of the 
larger breeds, we feel bound by truth, economy, 
and good taste to do justice to this meek and un¬ 
pretending little beast. 
The coast of Normandy, in France, and the 
Channel Islands of Great Britain, Alderney, Jer¬ 
sey, and Guernsey, are the original soils which 
.ong have bred that race now popularly known as 
the Alderney. They abound there now ; and on 
the Channel Islands they are improved and bred 
with a care superior to which no breed of cattle 
? England itsdf has received. On the English 
coast of Hampshire, too, they are kept in the 
parks and lawns of the gentry as a favorite milk¬ 
ing cow, and considered an ornament to their 
pleasure grounds and paddocks. They were car¬ 
ried more than two hundred years ago, from Nor¬ 
mandy, by the French settlers, into the Gulf of the 
St. Lawrence, and planted on the settlement s 
about Quebec, where they are now found—rude, 
and uncultivated, to be sure ; with colors and ap¬ 
pearance less distinctive than their English con¬ 
geners, but still rich in their lacteal qualities, and 
highly prized by the simple habitants who esteem 
prominent; her belly rather broad for her size ; 
her flanks not full. Yet her bone is fine. She 
stands tolerably well on the fore legs. Her hind 
legs are crooked, and her thighs lean, yet stand¬ 
ing well apart, disclosing a large udder of remark¬ 
able smoothness, set well forward, and run¬ 
ning well into the twist, covered with soft silky 
hair, and terminating in delicate, smooth, taper 
teats. All these points, many of them ungrace¬ 
ful when considered apart, yet combined, give the 
Alderney a peculiarly blood-like, and aristocratic 
appearance ; showing distinctly that although she 
may fail in comparison of carcase with the valu¬ 
able traits seen in most others we have described, 
she has qualities which render her quite as valu¬ 
able in her own line of service. Her prevailing 
colors are light red,dun, yellow, or fawn, agreeably 
intermingled with occasional patches of white. 
The two cuts we print will give a better idea. 
HER UTILITY 
As a milk yielding cow she is altogether prized. 
Her milk is rich and creamy beyond any other; 
the yield of butter larger, and of the deepest 
color. The milk is not so much in quantity as it 
is superior in quality ; yet is quite an average in 
the first, and much more than an average in the 
last, when the weight of the cow, and the food 
she consumes is considered. As compared with 
some other breeds, she is not considered as the 
best farm dairy cow. Her less robust constititu- 
tion and figure, and the domestic and sheltered 
manner in which she has long been accustomed 
to live, have unfitted her for the hardships of 
common farm service to which the larger breeds 
have been used, and she is thus better fitted for 
family keeping, where but one, or few cows are 
needed. For such purposes, her quiet disposition 
them above all others. They have for some years 
past found their way to the United States in the 
packet ships from England, and will, we trust, 
long remain with us, cherished and esteemed, as 
a household convenience, and a thing to care for. 
DESCRIPTION. 
The Alderney Cow is small in size, peculiarly 
deer-like and delicate in head and feature ; a fall¬ 
ing, ewe neck, having little dewlap ; a prominent, 
lean shoulder; a flat, falling rib; a sway back; 
bony hips; a narrow loin; lean rumps, termi¬ 
nating at their points with a tail rather gracefldly 
set on. Her chest is not wide ; her brisket not 
ALDERNEY BULL “IVANHOE.” 
and kindly temper, render her peculiarly service 
able ; and where the family cow is, as she always 
ought to be, properly regarded, the Alderney will 
be cherished and valued. 
With the plastic genius of the Channel Island 
breeders, we find that the Alderney is as suscep¬ 
tible of improvement in style and symmetry as 
the other foreign breeds; and to illustrate the fact 
we give above the portraits of a cow and bull, 
imported two years ago, and now owned by James 
O. Sheldon, Esq., White Spring Farm, Geneva, 
N. Y. These animals took first prizes at the late 
State Agricultural Show at Buffalo, N. Y., and 
their figures, compared with those on next page, 
