1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
121 
A DISCUSSION OF COINS. 
THE HOLSTEIN MEN ANSWERED. 
Cow Beef. —The article of W. M. Ben- 
ninger, entitled The Holstein Cow, page 
30, furnishes some good thought food. 
The first time I read it, I merely laughed. 
Then I read it again, and b?gan think¬ 
ing about it, and I came to the con¬ 
clusion that Mr. Benninger is, probably, 
perfectly honest in his assertions, only 
he, like a great many other persons (per¬ 
haps myself included) is ready to grasp 
at any instance which tends to prove 
what he already thinks, and accept it as 
proof undeniable. 
In the first place, he cites the instance 
where he sold a free-martin heifer for 
beef at a good profit, therefore con¬ 
cluded that the Holsteins are a profit¬ 
able beef breed. Mr. Elmer Stanton tells 
me that he butchered a free-martin Jersey 
heifer between two and three years old, 
that dressed (beef, hide and tallow) over 
700 pounds, and says that she was the 
heaviest two-year-old heifer he ever 
killed during 20 years’ butchering. Yet 
quality of the milk ; but I know that he 
forgot it, for he has said a good deal 
about it elsewhere. So, perhaps, it will 
be permissible for me to “ steal some of 
his thunder,” and have my say first. I 
live in an intensely Holstein section ; 
almost every one produces milk for the 
New York market, and I actually know 
10 farmers who keep grade Holsteins 
to produce milk to sell, and keep one 
Jersey to furnish milk for their own fam¬ 
ilies. The other day, I was riding past 
one of these farmers’ homes, and seeing 
the little Jersey among his big Holsteins, 
asked him what he would take for her. 
“ Don’t want to sell her,” he replied, 
“ she is the family cow.” 
“ What is the difference between her 
and some other one ? ” I asked. 
“Why, her milk is twice as rich as 
those cows. She makes all the butter 
we use, besides we use lots of milk 
and cream. There isn’t much butter 
in those other cows, but their milk is 
good enough to sell to those shipping 
stations. It is worth more than the 
buyers ever pay for it, anyhow.” 
cidedly homely brindle heifer. The 
next calf, by the same bull, was nearly 
white, and the third was spotted much 
after the manner of the Holsteins. The 
brindle heifer grew into a long-legged, 
rakish, poor-milking cow, not at all like 
her dam (which was a very good pattern 
of a Jersey and a good milker). So you 
see the lack of pedigree proved to be a 
serious thing in this case. 
I have another cow raised from an old 
family cow which was given the owner 
by a breeder of registered Jerseys. This 
calf was eligible to registry; but the 
recipient of the gift did not think it 
worth while to get her registered. She 
grew into a very fine Jersey and a big 
producer. She raised several heifers 
from registered bulls, and all of these 
have been extra good cows. My cow 
is a very fancy colored one, and has 
made from 18 to 20 pounds of butter in 
a week. On her sire’s side, she is bred 
in the purple, he being a son of import¬ 
ed Rissa (record 19 pounds butter in 
seven days) and also a descendant of old 
Eurotas. 
Value of Pure Blood. —You see if 
this old man (who is now dead) had paid 
$2 to get his calf registered, I would now 
have a $1,000 cow instead of a $100 one. 
She is a $100 cow because her calves 
must sell for $5 if bulls, and $10 or $20 if 
heifers, to my neighbors who buy them 
r 
v. 
GUERNSEY COW FILL PAIL DES RUETTES 2nd, No. 3864 
I shall not proceed to advertise my Jer¬ 
seys as beef animals on the strength of 
this assertion. It merely shows that, 
although Jerseys have been bred for a 
great many generations to eliminate 
these non-milking beef animals, they 
will occasionally crop out; but we do 
not consider it anything to brag about. 
Firm Butter. —Mr. Benninger says 
that a package of butter made by him 
from his Holsteins took a prize over a 
package of Jersey butter; therefore, 
claims that Holsteins make better butter 
than Jerseys. But why would it not be 
just as reasonable to say that it merely 
proved that Mr. Benninger was a better 
buttermaker than the other fellow ? I 
will not go into a discussion with him 
on this point, but will merely suggest 
that, if he will place a plate of his Hol¬ 
stein butter on the table by the side of 
•my Jersey butter, on a hot Summer day, 
he will be likely to see his goods sliding 
down off the plate, while mine stand 
firm, and that is one reason why I can 
beat him five cents per pound selling to 
private families. He also points out that 
a herd of Holsteins beat the Jerseys $4 
per head at the creamery for the year. 
Does Mr. Benninger imagine that he can 
keep a Holstein a year with only $4 added 
to the cost of keeping a Jersey ? 
Jersey “Family” Cows —Mr. Ben¬ 
ninger didn’t say anything about the 
If the Holstein is the better butter 
cow, why do all these men keep one or 
two Jerseys for their own use ? 
Mr. Benninger alludes to the “ fishy ” 
flavor of the Jersey butter made at his 
creamery. It is something I never heard 
of before and, of course, am unable to 
account for it; but I would suggest that 
it might be caused by so many “fishy” 
stories being told in the creamery dur¬ 
ing its manufacture. 
Value of Pedigree. —A. R. Phillips, 
page 61, in writing of the grade Jersey 
cow, Bella, asks, “ Why will she net 
bring $1,000 without being eligible to 
registry ? What magic is there in eligi¬ 
bility ? ” 
The magic of eligibility is simply this : 
It shows a man at once whether he is 
buying a freak or a cow that gets her 
great producing qualities from a line of 
great producing ancestors. Bella has 
nearly a perfect dairy form, a good Jer¬ 
sey color, and she ranks in production 
well up among the best registered Jer¬ 
seys. Yet if one were to pay $1,000 for 
her, he would want to know whether 
her progeny would be likely to inherit 
her qualities. 
Scattered Pedigrees. —A few years 
ago, I bought one of these said-to-be 
pure Jersey cows, but not eligible to 
registry. I served her to a first-class 
registered bull and the result was a de¬ 
A. G. C. C. Fig 43 
because they know their dam is a good 
cow, and take the chances as to the rest. 
Let us not ridicule the pedigree part of 
the business. There are so many men 
who are ready to swear that their cow 
is purebred if she chances to have the 
color of some breed, that if we are 
honest, we cannot reasonably expect 
strangers to believe in us unless we have 
the proof in shape of a certificate of 
registry. J. grant morse. 
A GOOD GUERNSEY COW. 
The Guernsey breed of cattle is, un¬ 
doubtedly, gaining rapidly in popularity 
among the dairymen in this country, 
especially the buttermakers. While its 
origin is, probably, identical with that 
of the Jersey, the animals of this breed 
are larger and coarser and more inclined 
to appear bony ; in fact, they are not so 
pretty. They were introduced into this 
country about the same time as the first 
Jersey importations, but up to the 
present, have not become so widely dis¬ 
tributed or so generally known. 
Their color varies from yellow, yel¬ 
lowish or reddish fawn and brown, of 
solid colors, frequently with consider¬ 
able spotting of white, and showing the 
same mealy-colored ring about the nos¬ 
trils as the Jersey. The bones are larger, 
head longer, and the general appearance 
indicates more of utility than beauty 
The Guernsey is emphatically a milk and 
butter cow. Some claim that butter 
made from Guernsey cows is even more 
highly colored than that from Jerseys. 
At Fig. 43 is shown a picture of the 
Guernsey cow. Fill Pail des Ruettes 2nd, 
No. 3864, A. G C. C , which is owned by 
Jas. Forsyth, of the Riverside Stock 
Farm, Owego, N. Y. She is a cow 
familiar to the frequenters of live stock 
shows in New York State, havirg been 
shown at the New York State Fair for 
several years, and also at the live stock 
show at the Madison Square Garden, 
New York City, in 1896, She was drop¬ 
ped March 16, 1888, and is from imported 
stock. She has a perfect udder forma¬ 
tion, great constitutional vigor and abil¬ 
ity for work, her greatest defect being a 
slight lacking in conformation of the 
hips. The teats are well placed on each 
corner, and she has excellent milk veins. 
Her milk is rich in butter fat. The 
Herd Register and Breeders’ Journal 
said that, if she had an incurved instead 
of an upturned horn, she would be a 
better cow according to show standards; 
but there is something suggestive of the 
workaday sort in the homely, upturned 
horns, and in her build and size and 
shape of udder, that quite confirms the 
question of usefulness. 
Sheep oh Shares —Do you know of any one that 
would like to start a sheep ranch In this State ? 
I would like to, but I have not the money to do 
It. I would be willing to do the work if some one 
would furnish the sheep for the customary share. 
Elwood,Neb. o. e. d. 
R. N.-Y.—It will be hard to ilnd such a part¬ 
ner. Most eastern men would prefer to invest 
their money in sheep on an eastern farm. There 
is more hope in eastern sheep raising now than 
before in many years. 
Prof. Shaw wants any reader of The R. N.-Y. 
to tell him wherein there is anything in his dual¬ 
purpose-cow creed that does violence to reason or 
sound sense. The Professor, himself, says that 
the dual-purpose cow isn’t as good for milk as 
the straight dai-y cow, or as good for beef as the 
straight beef cow; but he recommends the dual- 
purpose cow.to those farmers who want to grow 
beef and at the same time want to get the most 
out of the cream. If farmers want both beef and 
cream, let them keep a herd of eattle bred and 
fed for bee', also a herd of cattle bred and fed 
for the dairy, and there will be more profit ac¬ 
cording to his own reasoning. h. m p. 
Vermont. 
The Dairy and Food Commissioner of Michigan 
makes the following statement in his last bul¬ 
letin: “ The feeding of swill, brewery slops, dry, 
rips corn husks, straw and other food that has 
little or no substance left in it for nourishment 
and warmth, will eventually and surely lead to 
impoverished animals; milk poor in per cent of 
solids, consequently high in the per cent of water, 
skin troubles, falling out of hair from the tail, 
scurvy and susceptibility to tuberculosis, and 
other dangerous diseases. The law prohibits the 
sale of milk produced from any cow fed upon the 
refuse of a distillery, or of a brewery, garbage, 
swill, or upon any substance which would depre¬ 
ciate the quality of milk.” And the law is right, 
because no human should be permitted to drink 
milk from half-starved cows. Think of feeble 
little children trying to live on such milk! Here 
we have a law to compel a man to use a balanced 
ration! 
Breeders’ Directory. 
This column Is reserved for small cards of live 
stock, Including poultry, breeders. No cuts. Kates 
on application. 
C HENANGO VALLEY STOCK FARMS, Greene, N 
Y.—Dutch Belted and Jersey Cattle; Dorset and 
RambouiUet Sheep; Poland-Chlna, Jersey Red and 
Suffolk Pigs; White and Bronze Turkeys, Peafowls, 
and Blooded Chickens. J.D. VAN VALKKNBURGH. 
Terrace Lawn Stock Farm —Herd 
headed by DeKol's Butter Boy. Registered Holstein- 
Friesians of the richest breading for milk and butter, 
with the best strains of blood from tested cows. 
A bull calf, sired by Manor De Kol, and a few heifers 
by Helena De Kol’s Butter Boy. 
C. W. & G. R. SWARTOUT, 
Hartwick Seminary, Otsego County, N. Y. 
For Sale —Registered Jersey Heifer, 
Isabella's Flossie 131231, Stoke Pogis-Farmer’s Glory 
breeding. Solid cream fawn, black points. Two 
years old; due in April; correct dairy form; nice 
udder and teats. A very fancy heifer. Price $100. 
Pedigree on application. J. GRANT MORSE, 
Poolville, N. Y. 
Fifty Registered Ayrshires, 
Continuous milkers of good quality, with strong 
constitutions. MAPLE ROW STOCK FARM, 
F H. COOKINGIIAM, Cherry Creek, N. Y. 
Another Good Offer SnllhT’i 
March, at $15. Just the kind you are looking for. Also 
Fall Pigs. F. H. Gates & Sons, Chittenango, N. Y. 
IMPROVED CHESTER WHITES 
of the best breeding and all ages for sale at reason 
able price*. Pamphlets and prices free. 
CHAS. K. RECORD, Peterboro, N. T 
