The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-01-09
Agricultural Department.
THE JERSEYS.
M RICHARD GOODMAN.

There is some excuse for the mistakes
of the reporters of the daily papers in
their accounts of the international Dali
nv Show, when they mix up the breeds
of cattle in sad confusion, miscall the
names of the prominent breeders, refer
TO the herd of "Jerseys" entered by
one competitor and the Alderneys"
by another-no Attorneys being there
at all-and no carping owner OF stock
would say, " Has this fellow no feeling
of his business2" for it is not his busi-
ness, and the various races OF cattle are
As much a novelty to him as the NOW
ing of the parks is to the eager crowds
that hang about the slow city scythe-
men in early spring.
But when we read in the report OF
an address before the Massachusetts,
State Board of Agriculture, by vet
eran breeder of Devon stock in Con-
necticut, that " Attorneys embrace the
Jerseys and Guernseys," just as the
minister apologies for always using
the term men, because 1t embraces
vpmen-the men certainly do-wc are
apt to become cantankerous and to in
sist that public speakers, at least,
should know what they talk about.
Every intelligent stock raiser in this
country, who takes paper adapted to
his business, knows that the designation
Of =" Attorney" there being so few of
the latter animals raised and imported,
has been merged into that of jersey"
and that the only two classes of Chan
mel Islands cattle known-to American
breeders, are the Jersey and Guernsey.
and these are SO unlike each other that
he who runs may distinguish them.
Mr.. HYDE is no nearer the truth when
he SAYS that these cattle have been too
closely bred, and are therefore too deli
cate and effeminate for the ordinary
practica, farmer, and that they are
larger eaters than other cattle as COM
pared with what they produce, the fact
being that they are hardy and long
lived, will thrive upon pasture other
stock would starve on, and are quickly
injured if fed excessively, as most
other stock are to produce the quantity
of butter yielded by the Jersey OF
Guernsey. At the meeting at Green
field, Mass, where these remarks were
made, one day was SET apart as dairy
day. and large prizes having been offer
ed for various samples of butter, there
were multitudes of competitors from
the dairy districts and towns about
and it is a somewhat noticeable fact
that the prize-winners were small farm
ers, owners of Jersey or grade Jersey
cows, who made the butter in the old.
fashioned way, setting the milk in shal.
low pans; but from the milking to the
final packing the utmost cleanliness
was observed.
Another point of Importance was,
that all the premiums were given to
butter made during the end of Novem-
Der, showing that as good butter can
be made in the winter by skillful hands
as in the spring or fall, and that the
complaint of the ordinary farmer that
he cannot make it in winter, arises
either from his ignorance or Incidence
generally from both-and it was for.
merly no unusual reply of a New Eng.
land farmer to the inquiry why he dried
off his cows so long, that it was cold
milking in the winter, and the butter, il
made, would not sell, as it was bitter.
The Jerseys have been influential in
remedying this state of things, as they
were too costly not to be utilized as
ficulty in drying them off when it is
uCCcbodIy W w 81, tudll OtlcT COWs,
and their. butter, retaining its color
if they are properly fed-as well as its
flavor, the consumers, who have become
accustomed to fresh butter when resid-
ing abroad, have made demand for a
similar article, and large quantities OF
the "gilt-edged" article are now sent
to the cities from private diaries, and
this with that from creameries Unjust
soon be the leading staple for the table
of those who can afford and are willing
to pay a remunerating price.
Therefore let us give the Jerseys their
due; sink altogether the term Alder
ney; spell the Holstein with an n not
an m; remember that they are really
Dutch cattle; that Short-horns and
Durhams are identical, and that the
Ayrshires came from the same region
that gave birth to Burns, and that just
as he was an Ayrshire ploughman and
his only AIRS are In his songs, they are
Ayrshire cattle. ~
Lenox, Mass.
-[Rural New Yorker.