Delta chief., 1883-12-19
Hol.tein Cattle in colorado.

ERRONEOUS hame OF hoistich cattie. lmpOrt-
ations of such cattle, mostly males, are get
ting more frequent even in this State, and it
may be of some interest for the farmers in
the West to know something about the his
tory and the qualities of this interesting and
useful breed.
The country where it comes from is Hol-
land, a very small but entirely independent
and hourshing country in Europe, that for
several centuries is known in the old country
to contain the best and richest grazing lands,
covered with innumerable herds of the best
milk stock in the world.
This breed don't come from Holstein, as a
person would infer from the name. 1t may
their pedigree from the time when the first
inhabitants settled on the banks of the great
rivers of Holland, about one hundred years
before our era, and the cattle Of to-day are
the lineal descendants of the race kept by
these first inhabiiahts.
1t is true that sometimes inundations, cat
tie diseases and wars have threatened these
cattle with decrease and even destruction,
but the farmors kept on breeding with what
was left. The origin and purity of the thor
oughbred cattle in Holland may thus be
traced back about two thousand years. This
fact explains the extraordinary breeding
power of this breed, so that by crossing with
other less constant breeds, the calves will,
without any exception, resemble the Holland
parents in shape and qualities as well as in
color.
l.. -. zr Al, -, A.. H..
found in the most fertile provinces, North
Holland and Friesland. The color is mostly
black and white, evenly variegated, the dark
est are considered the strongest. In respect
to the shape of the horns, these cattle belong
to the shorthorn races. They are, as n gem
cral rule, deep mixers, and belong to the
heavy breeds. Another important quality is
their ease of adoption to outward circnm-
stances, that make them acclimatic in these
far-of countries, without any change of pro-
ductiveness. Another characteristic of these
cattle is the richness Of their milk, the won
drous growth of the young animals, and the
easy fattening of the old ones. The beef is
the finest quality, regularly marbled or
grained. fat steers weighing 900 pounds and
fat cows weighing 1880 pounds are very
common in Holland. All that belongs to the
sexual organs is extraordinarily developed in
this cattle, so that, Notwithstanding their
milk productiveness, the calves are common
ly of a large size and mature early. In gen.
eral, they are born with six to eight milk
teeth, and weighing from 70 to 100 pounds.
The Holland breeders select their bulls al
ways from good milking mothers, and use
them from fifteen to thirtss Sths old, the
older ones getting most tod knvy. At the
end of the second year the He,ie. gives her
first calf. Yearly -calving Is then continued,
so that, as general rule, the cow has her
third calf when scarcely full-grown, at four
years old, This course of breeding prevailed
for centuries has caused in this cattle fine
mellow network with large milk secretions,
excellent qualities that are highly improved
by jud;cious crossing.
Besides the name of Holsten, under which
this kind of cattle is mostly advertised, the
name of Dutch-Fiiesian cattle is gradually
coming in public use, and the latter name is
far the best, because The word Dutch is the
translation of Holland, and Fiiesian means
Friesland, one of the provinces of Holland,
where the best cattle is to be found. Besides
all tt nccording to the rulesof the Holsticn
Heri Association of America, no ,im-
pof aal ecu be registered in thatsH Herd
BID at having certificate Of being of
pure NJ Holland or Friesian breed.
The fact that they combine more success
fully than any other breed, milk, cheese, but
ter aud beef, seems to be very generally un-
derstood in the Eastern States As milk pro-
ducers they stand unrivalled and alone.
Yearly records of 200 to 800 pounds Of
milk from cows of this breed are not rare.
Deep mixers are the rule and not the excep-
tion-in fact, we never saw a well-bred
Dutch-Friesian (Holstein) COW that was not
good mixer. OF course there is a vast
difference even in this breed, but when Sc
lected and bred from pure blood there are
no failures.
A matter of no small consideration to dali
rymen'is the fact that they usually continue
to give large flow of milk for nearly the en-
tire year. So Is the docility and quiet dispo-
sition Of the cattle as breed. The old and
young bulls as well as cows are almost uni.
versally kind and gentle. 1t is also proved
by good many experiments in the East that
the milk of the Dutch.Friesian cows Is the
best keeping milk that can be found, and
that is of no small importance To Colombo.
For beef the Dutch -Friesian cattle will
T. AZ - r 4 y.