AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
253 
■lift 
1874] 
Dutch (or Holstein) Cattle. 
The engravings on this page are portraits of 
a Dutch bull and cow which took the first pre¬ 
mium at the New York State Fair of 1873; they 
are the property of Gerrit S. Miller, Esq., of 
Highland Farm, 
Peterboro’, N. Y. 
The bull, Rip Van 
Winkle, was im¬ 
ported in his dam 
in 1869, and is now 
four years old. The 
cow, Crown Prin¬ 
cess, was imported 
from West Fries¬ 
land in the same 
year, and is now 
eight years old. 
Her yield of milk 
in one day in 1871 
was 74V lbs., or 
about 34 quarts, 
and her average 
yield per day for 
six months was 50J 
lbs., or about 23 
quarts per day. Her 
feed was nothing 
but pasture during 
June, July, and 
August of this pe¬ 
riod. Mr. Miller 
feeds his cows in spring six quarts of grain daily, 
and in fall and winter four quarts daily. We 
assume that this cow had the usual allowance 
during the other months than those mentioned, 
although we have not been informed as to that. 
We are glad to have the opportunity of pre¬ 
senting the portraits of these two animals, be¬ 
cause they are types of a breed of great intrinsic 
value and of great importance to our own dairy 
interest. The dairies of Holland have had a 
wide reputation for many years, and the Dutch 
butter and cheese have long been celebrated for 
their excellence. The Dutch cattle for genera¬ 
tions back have 
been bred especial¬ 
ly for their dairy 
qualities, but at the 
same time then- 
large frames, well 
covered with flesh, 
have rendered them 
more than fair beef-, 
producing stock. 
Some of the best 
qualities of the now 
fashionable Short¬ 
horns have been 
derived from the 
blood of the short¬ 
horn Dutch cows. 
The rich pastures 
of the alluvial fields 
of Holland have 
helped during all 
these years to build 
up a race of fine 
dairy cows prolific 
of milk, butter, and 
cheese, and which 
when they have be¬ 
come no longer profitable for the dairy quickly 
take on flesh and fat,and yield an excellent quali¬ 
ty of beef. The color of these cattle is white and 
black, their frames are large and well covered 
with flesh, their skin is fine, soft, and mellow, 
their constitutions are hardy and robust, they 
possess the favorite points of dairy animals, are 
apt and hearty feeders, and arrive at an early 
maturity. Recently a bull of this breed was 
slaughtered in Philadelphia, and dressed over 
1,600 pounds net weight of the choicest beef, 
portions of which sold in the market for fifty 
PRIZE DUTCH OR HOLSTEIN BULL. 
cents a pound. The Dutch cattle, then, may 
claim to be considered as first-class dairy ani¬ 
mals and as respectable beef stock. 
But it is as dairy stock we propose to con¬ 
sider them, and here condense from a commu¬ 
nication sent us by Mr. Miller the following 
remarks in reference to the comparative excel¬ 
lence of the Dutch and Ayrshire cows as set 
forth by Dr. E. L. Sturtevant in a recent lec¬ 
ture before the Vermont Dairymen’s Associa¬ 
tion, already alluded to in a previous number 
of the Agriculturist. It is admitted by Dr. 
Sturtevant that the cream of the Dutch cow’s 
PRIZE DUTCH OR HOLSTEIN COW. 
milk rises more quickly than that of the Ayr¬ 
shire cow’s milk. Mr. Miller therefore claims 
that, as a butter cow, the Dutch should stand 
before the Ayrshire of a butter family even. 
Further, referring to the experiments of Dr. 
Sturtevant as to the keeping qualities of the 
butter of cows of various breeds, in which pats 
of butter were placed in a warm cupboard near 
a steam heater, and their behavior under these 
unfavorable circumstances noted, he says: 
“There was one sample of Dutch butter, one 
of Guernsey, seven of Jersey, and two of Ayr¬ 
shire; a few days 
later another pat of 
Ayrshire butter was 
added. The Guern¬ 
sey butler was very 
high colored; melt¬ 
ing point 99°; had 
an oily rather than 
waxy look, but was 
very attractive; it 
molded in spots in 
about a month. 
The Jersey butters 
in about seven 
weeks were all 
slightly rancid; one 
sample lost its color 
in spots, the white 
spots left resem¬ 
bling tallow in color 
and taste; no butter 
flavor. The Ayr¬ 
shire butters had 
lost all flavor, were 
poor, very poor, 
but scarcely rancid. 
The Dutch sample 
the best preserved of the lot. This is another 
proof of the Dutch outranking the Ayrshire as 
a butter cow. The keeping quality of butter 
is certainly an important item in determining 
its value. As for the cheese qualities of the 
Dutch cow, if her cream and milk are so readily 
mixed, by stirring, it would give our cheese- 
makers but little trouble to secure the cream iu 
the curd, as it is then- custom to keep the 
night’s milk in gentle motion to prevent the 
rising of cream. When comparing the Ayr¬ 
shire and Dutch as dairy cows, it should be re¬ 
membered that the Ayrshire has had a com¬ 
paratively tho rough 
trial in the best- 
dairy districts of 
this country, and 
has been bred and 
improved here for 
many years; while 
with the Dutch im¬ 
provement is just 
beginning. So far 
as my experience 
of four or five years 
goes, the Dutch 
have proved them¬ 
selves equal to any, 
and are surpassed 
by no other dairy 
stock in the World. 
Not only is their 
yield of milk large, 
but the average 
proportion of cream 
it contains I have 
found to be at least 
16 per cent.” It 
would seem that 
Mr. Miller makes 
out a strong case for his favorite breed, and the 
reputation of these cows in their native country 
will go far to support him in his claims. It 
can not be doubted that there is a large open¬ 
ing amongst our dairies for the introduction of 
cattle of such excellence as the Dutch cows. 
