448 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Milch Cows—Eight Principal Types. 
Milk pure and simple is a perfect food. Accord¬ 
ing as it is produced near or far from market and 
from other causes, it becomes the raw material for 
two important manufactures, namely : butter and 
cheese, and is marketed either as milk or in one or 
the other of these forms. Thus the world over we 
find the profit of keeping milch cows to depend 
upon either their yield of milk as such, or the 
amount of butter or of cheese which may be pro¬ 
duced from their milk. This fact, in process of 
time, but more especially in recent times, has given 
rise to different breeds of cattle, valuable for one 
•or the other of these products, yet all properly 
milk-giving in distinction from beef-producing 
breeds. 
The progress already made, great as it is, is 
only a beginning. We are just learning the A-B-C 
of our business, and the possibilities of the fu¬ 
ture are immense. Certain breeders are working 
to produce great butter yielders, others great milk 
producers, and the cheese breeders have as yet 
hardly shown their hands. When we begin care¬ 
fully to count the cost of each quart of milk or 
pound of butter or cheese, it may be some obscure 
breed like the little Kerry or Kyloe will come to 
the front. Then we will still have before us the 
Study of flavor, of keeping quality and “ grain ” in 
butter and each distinctive excellence of cheese. 
The strife between breeders may be as sharp over 
these qualities, or a combination of them, as it is 
now-a-days over the mere weight of butter, very 
important, truly, but, as just said, only the be¬ 
ginning. 
Our artist has, with rare skill, portrayed upon the 
opposite page, eight cows, all but one representing 
typically a distinct breed of cattle raised chiefly for 
milk. One is struck at first-sight with the marked 
differences in style and markings, but a similarity in 
form. The wedge-shape and capacious carcass, 
With large development of udder and milk-veins 
indicate a milker whatever be the breed. The rear 
Is emphatically the “ business end ” of a milch-cow, 
and it should be largely developed. 
Milking Sliort-liorns (1). — Great milkers 
have from time to time appeared among the 
highest bred cows of the grandest of English 
breeds, the Shorthorns, but the original stock from 
Which this long pedigreed race has sprung is fa¬ 
mous for giving a great abundance of milk, so that 
not only is this quality occasionally developed in 
certain families, bred primarily as beef-producers, 
but there are hundreds, aye thousands, of herds of 
so-called “common” cows in England kept for 
milk alone, in many of which only thorough-bred 
bulls are used; and by a wise provision their 
progeny, after five generations, each representing a 
cross with a thorough-bred bull, are admitted to 
record the same as thorough-bred animals. Thus, 
in the English Shorthorn Herd-book there are 
numerous animals with very short pedigrees. They 
represent in many cases cows whose milk-giving 
qualities have not been bred out but encouraged. 
They are large, very broad, level, flue boned and 
Well formed, with great paunches and enormous 
Udders with large teats. They often give twenty 
to thirty quarts of milk a day, and sometimes more. 
It is usually of fair, but not of remarkable richness. 
It is good milk for city use. The cows fatten 
easily after their milking days are over. 
Friesian Cattle (5).—The Dutch farmers of 
Friesland have been careful breeders for several 
hundred years. At home the cattle are valued 
both for beef and milk ; but in this country milk is 
the object, while the fact that they fatten well and 
make good beef is all in their favor. As bred here 
the best are black and white, very large, well 
formed, broad and deep, wedge-shaped, with enor¬ 
mous udders, which are very well quartered 
and placed; fine bones, with long heads, 
broad muzzles, thin withers and thighs, and of 
enormous digestive capacity. Cows of this breed, 
including those called by another and absurdly 
misleading name, are, with great uniformity good 
milkers, and so are grades. We have a recentre- 
port of a cow yielding sixteen thousand two hun¬ 
dred and twenty-six pounds of milk in a year, 
and six months after calving making nineteen 
pounds 6ix ounces of butter in seven days. Others 
are reported as making fourteen to twenty pounds 
of butter a week. 
Ayrshire* (3).—The Ayrshires are a compara¬ 
tively modern and decidedly composite race. The 
hardy native breed of the county of Ayr, has been 
wisely built upon by taking such crosses as would 
promote an improvement in form and milk produc¬ 
tion without weakening the constitution of the 
parent stock. As a result we have an exceedingly 
useful breed, adapted to grazing, giving much 
milk of good and often of superior quality, hardy, 
prolific, long-lived, and capable of doing well under 
either pampering or rough treatment. Twenty or 
thirty-quart cows are not very rare, and occasion¬ 
ally larger yields are reported. There is the usual 
variation in the richness of the milk of different 
cows, and an equal variation in quantity. She is a 
good cow which gives four thousand pounds of milk 
a year, but there are records of cows yielding eight 
thousand to nine thousand pounds, and even as in 
the case of Queen of Ayr, yielding nine thousand 
four hundred four and a-half pounds on an average 
for six consecutive years, while the highest record 
we can refer to is ten thousand eight hundred and 
one pounds in a single year. The cream globules 
in Ayrshire milk are small, the cream rises slowly 
and is easily stirred back into the milk. It is more¬ 
over claimed to be the most digestible milk of any 
breed. The best cows are very broad, deep, fine- 
boned, wedge-shaped, soft, mellow-hided, and of a 
mottled or spotted red and white color. 
Ked Foiled Norfolk* (6).—The counties of 
Norfolk and Suffolk in England, have long been 
famous for a breed of milch cows which have lately 
come very markedly to the front. They are excel¬ 
lent as dairy cows and resemble the Devons in their 
deep red color, and in the fact that they are re¬ 
markably good beef cattle also, on an average 
however surpassing that excellent breed as milk¬ 
ers, and not quite equaling them as economic beef 
producers. Hence we class them with the proper 
dairy breeds. They have value in dairy districts as 
milk pioducers, and the thorough-bred bull calves 
sell quickly at high prices for use on the plains. 
The grade calves are usually hornless, and much 
more tractable, less dangerous, and less liable to 
hurt one another when shipped upon railway cars. 
Channel Island Cattle (2 and 4).—The Jer¬ 
seys and the Guernseys, distinctly dissimilar breeds, 
come from islands on the coast of Normandy, 
belonging to England. They are remarkable for 
the richness of their milk, and the Guernsey 
breed for the excellent rich color of the butter, while 
that of the Jerseys excels in firmness. ,.The Jer¬ 
seys are more delicate in form and more varied in 
coloring, yet are equally hardy. A tendency is 
obvious among breeders to prefer self or solid-col¬ 
ored animals and those shading to gray, while 
Guernsey breeders usually prefer those of a yellow 
or yellowish-fawn color, broken with spots of white. 
In general the Guernseys are heavier and larger 
framed. Beef points are valued, while Jersey 
breeders discard all distinctively beef points and 
cultivate only tendencies to produce milk and but¬ 
ter. At present the Jerseys decidedly surpass all 
other breeds as butter makers, even without refer¬ 
ence to the live weight of the cows. The highest 
recently reported yields are one hundred and six 
pounds twelve ounces of salted butter in thirty-one 
days, by one cow, and twenty-five pounds and 
eleven-twelfths ounce in seven days, by another. 
The yield of milk is not inconsiderable, six thous¬ 
and pounds being not uncommon. We have no 
reports of Guernseys approaching the butter yield 
of the Jerseys, though as yielders of rich milk they 
are fully equal. It seems sometimes to an outsider 
that the reason Guernsey cows have no butter 
records, is from lack of enterprise of the breeders, 
and not the fault of the cows. 
Swiss Cattle (7).—Switzerland has been famous 
for its pastures from the earliest historic times. 
The word alp means a mountain pasture, or rather 
a mountain covered with pasturage, and is never 
applied by the Swiss to rocky or snow-capped 
peaks. On those alps and in the valleys, breeds of 
cows have been developed which are hardy milk- 
givers, bearing all vicissitudes of the weather, and 
yielding rich and abundant milk. Among those 
breeds is one of a prevailingly silver-gray color, 
like one of the most fashionable colors of Jerseys, 
in fact, resembling the Jerseys in other points also 
—the mealy muzzle, the richness of the milk, etc. 
The cows are, however, stronger boned, and have 
much less style, though they are prone to carry 
more flesh than the Jerseys, and will sometimes 
approach the average Shorthorn in weight. 
Twenty-quart cows are common, and those giving 
twenty-eight to thirty quarts are not very rare. 
Common Cows (8.)—We have alluded to what 
are called common cows by Shorthorn writers in 
England; these are to all intents and purposes 
Shorthorns, but our common cows are not. They 
are of no breed or of all breeds, of all colors and 
types, but among them the genuine milch cow type 
is not rare, and when found she is worth just as 
much to fill a pail as if she had a pedigree as long 
as Queen Victoria’s. There is usually a coarseness 
in some points, a lack of thorough-bred or well- 
bred look about such a cow, but she usually proves 
hardy and useful in every way, often being an 
enormous milker, and occasionally developing 
great richness. She will be found to possess the 
approved milch-cow points, such as we demand in 
the best cows of the milk and butter breeds, name¬ 
ly, the wedge-shape, great capacity for food, a 
great appetite, and most active digestive apparatus, 
together with large lacteal glands, a big udder, 
with large and well placed teats, full milk veins, 
etc. Happy is the man who has his stable full 
of such cows, whether plain or thorough-bred. 
Cramming for the Shows. 
Where size and weight are the standards by 
which animals are judged, we do not wonder that 
Englishmen, and Canadians, following the English 
example, take great pains to prepare their animals 
for the Fair. A friend who visited a noted sheep- 
raiser in Canada, a few years ago, gave us an amus¬ 
ing account of the manner in which the Cots- 
wolds were pampered for days before the exhibi¬ 
tion. The animals were fed with the usual foods 
frequently and abundantly, but there were beds of 
lettuce and other attractive plants which had been 
provided for the purpose, and the animals were 
tempted with these, one more lettuce leaf being 
regarded as a great gain, if the animal could be 
tempted to eat it. A system of persistent stuffing 
was followed for a number of days, and when the 
animals started for the Fair, an abundant supply 
of vegetable delicacies was sent with them. So 
long as mere size and weight are considered in 
awarding prizes, exhibitors can not be blamed for 
meeting the requirements. The most important 
reforms needed in the management of our Fairs 
are : first, greater care in making up the schedules 
of premiums ; and second, greater care in the se¬ 
lection of the judges who will award the prizes. 
The points which characterize purity of breed in 
a sheep, pig, or other farm animal, are of far more 
importance than the weight at a given age. But 
how many of the hastily made up “ Boards of 
Judges,” as these are usually appointed, know 
anything about “ points ” in the class of animals 
they are to judge ? Small societies can not usually 
adopt the plan of the New York State Agricul¬ 
tural Society, but they should approach it as 
nearly as may be. An award by this Society means 
something. The judges in every department are 
carefully selected long in advance of the time of 
the fair; they are written to, and their acceptance 
secured, and the expense of their attendance is 
paid by the Society. This liberal action enables 
the Society to command the services of the very 
best men in each department; and being selected 
long in advance, they have time to confer with one 
another, and decide definitely upon a plan of action. 
