Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-08-08
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KERRY CATTLE

A correspondent of the Country Gentle
man, writing from Massachusetts, says of
the famous IRISH breed of Kerry cattle
The Kerry breed of cattle are,sman, CON-
pactly built, and very hardy animals, not
ugly in form, as some suppose Gas the Jer-
sey COW comes TO be, for instance, as she
gets old), but symmetrical in form, with
generally a straight back and always fine
limbs. The horns are long, but gracefully
curved and tspered. The head is the coarse
part of thei; todies, especially in the bull.
Their horns are perhaps q little longer than
the Devons, but not much, and they resem-
BILE that breed more than any other in 'heir
general appearance, excepting in color. The
Kerries are or should be, always '.jet black"
though som times they are red or brindled.
Black is the color that is sought and bred
for. They have soft, mellow hide, which
is covered with thick coat of hair. The
"milk points" of the Kerry COW are remark
ably good. In my herd there is not one
that has not fully developed mirror"
"bigh snd broad" what the Jersey breeders
are always seeking for and seldom find, and
the udders are of the most approved form,
with teats well and equally placed.
They are not large milkers-that could
They yield IN the flush say from eight to
fourteen quarts per day, but they are per-
sistent mixers, and that is their great point
of excellence. What l mean by persistent
mixers, is that they continue giving milk
long into the winter and near the time of
calving, and that without what Is called
extra feeding. For example, as my favor
tie way of judging of the merits of different
kinds Of stock is to keep them together, and
as nearly as may be under the same condi-
tons of food and care, l have in the same
building with the Kerri herd of pure
bred Jerseys aud some Fnatives." For
several seasons have watched them, and
have always found that in the latter part Of
January. the only cows (of those that are
to calve in the following spring) that are
then giving milk are The Kerries, and this,
Notwithstanding they received no other
food than hay, while the Jerseys have to
have some meal and bran to keep them
from drumming down."
As for the quality of their milk, IL once
made the following rial: For one week
had the milk of three KerIies and three
pure-bred Jerseys kept separate and care
fully measured. All was made into butter,
which was weighed and compared with
great care. The result showed that it took
eight aud three-quarters quarts of Kerry
milk to pound of bu ter, and eight and
seven-eighths quarts Of that from the Jer-
sey cows to make pound.
The above, you willssy, is rather "rose-
colored" account, but then there IS never q
rose without It's thorn. The thorn-the
drawback, in the case of the Kerres, is the
fact that they mature very slowly. They
could never be profitable for raising veals.
The calves are small, and sesm to devote
all the good milk they consume in their in
fancy TO laying the foundation of good,
hardy const tuition for later usefulness. In
sill my experience with the Kerries, have
bad but one heifer drop her calf during the
season that she was two years old. They
generally come in at tire !, and afterwards
are not as quick to develop into the full use
fulness of the mature cow as some other
breeds. bel eve, however, that herd of
mataure Kerry cows will make more milk
and butter in year on the same feed than
the same number of cows of any other
breed.