JUNE II 
NEW-YORKER. 
THE RURAL 
The Guernseys and Jerseys cross well, and 
blend their good qualities admirably, the cross¬ 
bred animals exhibiting the line stature of the 
Guernsey combined with the more elegant 
form of the Jersey ; in fact, making the model 
milch cow in every particular. The butter of 
the cros6-bred8 is usually of a character com¬ 
bining the firmness and waxiness of the Je.rsty 
with the richer color of the Gaernsey. In fact, 
no better use cun be made of unregistered Jer¬ 
sey cows than to cross them with Gaernseys. 
for in the cross we are almost sure to have the 
beet qualities of the two breeds developed. 
Grade Guenon ys possess the qualities of the 
Guernsey breed to an extraordinary degree, 
ordinarily exhibiting them in the color and 
quali yof the Ekin and in their milking and 
feeding qualities. The quantity of milk and 
both the quantity and rich color of the Gaern¬ 
sey butter are observable also in the grade 
cows. The Guernsey^ are, therefore, pre-emi¬ 
nently adapted to those regions where farmers 
make butter and where beef and veal are re¬ 
garded as important farm products. 
The earliest importations of Guernseys into 
this country were probably made at a time 
when no distinction was made between the 
different breeds of the Channel Ialauds, and 
Jerseys and Guernseys passed under the name 
of Alderneys. Jn 1840 Mr. Nicholas Biddle, of 
Philadelphia, imported Guernseys under their 
proper name, and established a herd of rare 
excellence, which ie still in existence in the 
hands of his son, the Hon. Craig Biddle. Other 
isolated herds in New England and in the State 
of New York fairly introduced the breed to 
American breeders, and it has steadily in¬ 
creased in popularity from the first. In 1878 
the American Guernsey Cattle Club was 
Jersey Cow. Martha of Roxbury. 5016. 
(Illustrated below.) 
Dropped Jan., 10 1872 ; color cream, fawn and 
white;Sire, Vanguard845; dam, FannyStanard 
5015. This cow has taken, alternately with her 
dam, first and second premiums at the Virginia 
State Fairs, as best Jersey cow over three 
years old, and aho first premium as beat dairy 
cow of any age or breed. She is of the noted 
strain of Jerseys of the late Win. C Wilson 
of Muiyltod, andisoneof the foundation stock 
of the Jersey Herd of the Messrs K iwe’s Co¬ 
operative Stock Farm, Fredericksburg, Vir 
ginia. 
- ■ - - 
POLLED ANGUS COW, PRINCESS 8th (3,298) 
(See Illustration on next page.) 
Bred by Thomas Ferguson, Kinnochtry, 
Coupar Augus, Scotland; calved April lftth, 
1878 Imported by F. B Redfield. B itavia, N. 
Y.. October, 1879. By Shah (608); dam, Prin¬ 
cess 2d (910) by Young Hugh (131); 2d dam. 
Princess of Kinnochtry (914), by President 3i 
(240) ; 3d dam, Prizie (580). by Black Jock (3); 
4tb dam. Young Favoiite (61), by G r ey-breasted 
Jock (2); 5ih dam, Old Grannie (1) 
Old Grannie (1), the head of the Princess and 
Baroness tribes, was bred by the late Hugh 
Watson, of Keillor, the first great improver of 
Angus cattle, and was calved in 1824 Although 
she is the first of her line recorded in the Polled 
Herd Book, and the earliest animal in point of 
time recorded, it is well known that she was 
descended from a maternal line which had 
been in the hands of Mr. Watson from the year 
1808, wheD be received the stock from which 
her ancestors came from his father, who was 
breeding Aligns cattle as early as 1768. 
Mr. Watson tor many years was uucouquerad 
first in the class for two-year-old bulls at the 
Highland Society Show, at Kelso, beating such 
good ones as Justice, Young Juryman and 
Bombastes. Kelso was-the only place at which 
Mr. Ferguson made a show in 1880, and Prince 
of the Realm, whose likeness appeared in the 
Ritrai* of April 16, was the only animal he 
fitted for show purposes. The result as above 
was highly satisfactory, for he was placed first 
over three young bulls unbeaten in many show 
rings that year. Princess was only 19 months 
old when the likeness on page 886, was taken. 
-- 
RURAL BRIEFLET8. 
When a gronp of animals possess certain 
characteristics which distinguish them from 
others of the same species and which have be¬ 
come bo firmly established that they are uni¬ 
formly transmitted from parent to offspring, 
they are properly recognized as a distinct 
breed. These special characteristics may in¬ 
clude peculiarities of appearance, as the ab¬ 
sence of horns in the polled breeds, and the 
red color of Devons; of function, as the quan¬ 
tity of milk of the Holstein and the qualiiy of 
milk of the Jersey ; of locomotion, as the trot 
and pace in the horse ; of habit or instinct as 
exemplified in the setter or shepherd’s dog— 
in fact, any standard that fancy may dictate 
may be assumed..... 
Heredity is the principle in accordance with 
which the normal characters, the constitutional 
diseases and sometimes the acquired habits of 
the parents are transmitted to the off spring.. 
The distinguishing peculiarities of the vari¬ 
ous breeds of cattle are the result of the inher¬ 
itance of characters that adapted them to the 
conditions under which they orignated. In 
The flesh of Short-horn or Hereford grades 
is often better than that of the pure-bred ani¬ 
mals; ebb-fly because the fattening qualities 
of the latter have been so highly developed as 
to lead to an excess of fat coupled with a defi¬ 
ciency of lean, while in the fl j sh of the grade 
the proportion of lean and fat is more highly 
valued by the butcher. 
Experience has shown that in breeding the 
influence of the first male parent is not limited 
to the immediate offspring, hut generally ex¬ 
tends also, through the female that has been 
impregnated, to her progeny by another male. 
It is therefore of special Importance that a su¬ 
perior bull should serve a heifer for her first 
calf.There is good reason to believe 
that, although this peculiar influence of the 
male is mom, Intense in the first impregnation, 
yet subsequent Impregnations by other males 
have modified permanent influence. 
Among the general public there is often a 
good deal of ignorance or misconception as to 
the meaning of terms in common un) among 
breeders. Of these the most frequently met 
with are the following:—“ Thorough ired," 
strictly speaking, is a term that designates the 
English race-horse and his descendants in this 
and other lands, and in this sense it has been 
commonly used as the name of the breed, just 
as CUdesdale and Norman designate breeds 
of draft horses. In this country, however, the 
term is frequently applied to cattle, sheep, 
swine, and occasionally even to other breeds 
of horses in the sense of pure-bred. . . , “Pure¬ 
bred " and “full-bloo'd.” according to the 
definition of the American Association of 
Sbort-horn Breeders, indicate animals of a 
distinct, well-defined breed without any ad- 
iH 
JERSEY COW, MARTHA OF ROXBURY, 5016.— FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.—FIG. 296. 
formed, and the first volume of the Guernsey 
“Herd Register” was published, since which 
time the number of breeders and of pttre-bred 
cattle has greatly Increased. Within a few 
years a Herd Book has been established by the 
Island breeders, so that now the systematic 
improvement of the breed and the maintenance 
of its valuable characteristics may be expected 
to go on both in this country and In the Island 
of Guernsey upon well established principles. 
Large numbers of Guernsey cattle—chiefly 
two-year-old, in-calf heifers—are annually ex¬ 
ported from the Island to England, where they 
have long been great favorites. The importa¬ 
tions of Guernseys to thiB country have never 
been so great as daring the past year, and in 
point of excellence the recent importations com¬ 
pare most favorably with any that have ever 
been made. The Guernsey herds of the United 
States are located chiefly in New England, New 
York and Eastern Pennsylvania. 
in the show ring with hiB Angus cattle, and his 
victories began in 1829, when he won the first 
priz-. in the class for aged cows at the High¬ 
land Society Show with Old Grannie (1). From 
that time to the present, in the hands of both 
Mr. Watson and Mr. Ferguson, the Grannies— 
now known as the Princesses and the Baron¬ 
esses—have in every generation produced 
prize-winners. Old Grannie was a very re- 
ma» kable cow. 8he lived until very nearly 86 
years old and produced 20 calves that were 
prize-winners. The cow next to her, Young Fa¬ 
vorite (61). was a Highland Society first prize¬ 
winner, Print© (586), Princess of Kinnochtry 
(914), and Princess 2d (916). also won import¬ 
ant prizes against strong competition. In 1878 
Princess 6:h. a daughter of Prlncces 2d and a 
full sister to Princess 8th, was first in the year¬ 
ling class at the Highland Society Show at Dum¬ 
fries, and iu 1880 Prince of the Realm, six¬ 
teenth cal/ of Princess of Kinnochtry (914), was 
the “improved” breeds, certain desirable in¬ 
dividual peculiarities that have appeared, 
spontaneously or accidentally, have been en¬ 
grafted by heredity upon those of the original 
breed. ....*. • 
lit breeding, the parent that seems to exer¬ 
cise the greatest influence upon the character 
of the offspring is said to be prepotent, and 
since in pure-bred animals the dominant char¬ 
acteristics of all the immediate ancestors are 
the same, their prepotency, or power of trans¬ 
mitting their characteristics, is greater than 
that of *■ native ” animals. The more closely 
in-bred a family, the stronger, it is found, is the 
prepotency of its members, and in some cases 
in-and-in breeding has been limited to families 
set apart to produce breeding sires, for as the 
male is practically half the herd for breeding 
purposes, it is especially desirable that he 
should be able to transmit his excellencies in a 
pre-eminent manner... 
mixture of other blood. The same author¬ 
ity also adopted the following definitions, 
which coincide with the general signification 
of the terms, although writers in the public 
press not infrequently misapply the words. 
“Croei-bred” animals, strictly speaking, are 
those produced by breeding together distinct 
breeds, such as the Ayrshire and the Jersey ; 
but the terms crossing, making a cross, out- 
breeding and cross breeding are often used to 
indicate the mixture of the blood of different 
families of the same breed. “ Grades ” are the 
produce of a cross between a “ pure-bred " and 
a “native,” such as a Short-horn and a Texan, 
a Holstein and an ordinary cow or bull. 
“ Native ” cattle are animals of mixed blood 
without any fixed character, coiislUuting the 
vast majority of the herds throughout the coun¬ 
try... 
“High-grade” refers to an animal ol 
mixed blood in which the blood of the pure 
