The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-02-16
BY MISS ANNE c. NJ. BOYD.

| BY MISS ANNE c. NJ. BOYD.
! The American people appreciat
fine cattle perhaps more than an
other nation, and are always glad t
read about them, even though it be
few short words. We come naturall
by this fondness, for are we not mix
ture of other nations, and have no
other nations revered and even wor
SHIPPED cattle?
Long before our day ancient writer
recognized cattle as noble race. Ha
not Homer often likened his heroes t.
them? In the Psalms we find then
spoken of as an especial blessing o
God. Solomon caused twelve brazen
oxen to be placed in the temple, three
facing each of the four cardinal points
On their backs they supported grea,
brazen laver or sea. Now, Solomon
is generally believed to have been the
wisest man who ever lived. Perhap.
he intended to foretell that cattle
would become support in the fou,
quarters of the earth, as they are to.
day. Even in infant America they
support the greatest industry of the
country, and over two thousand mil
lion dollars are invested in the dairy
business.
Here we touch very closely on the
Jersey, for she, above all others, is the
greatest butter-producer. 1t is TO the
Jersey and what she has done for US
that | wish to call your attention.
Any one can see that there is profit in
the Jersey ; on the same amount oi
food she will produce more butter than
any other COW. Knowing this, it
seems strange that dairymen should
wish to keep any other breed. Au-
thentically We can trace them only to
the Island of Jersey. There are many
theories as to what crosses produced
them, but no one has yet satisfactorily
solved the problem. The sacred
cattle of India, strange as it may seem,
closely resemble the Jersey in many
particulars. How much better would
it be if the modern farmer could be
made to believe that from the Indians
blind reverence for cattle he might
learn lesson of torbearance and gen.
tleness toward his herd.
What more delightful home could
these famous COWS have than the green
and fertile pastures of the Jersey
Island The Jersey COW seems to tell
us by her gentle and satisfied express
sion that she has come from a land
where the climate is mild and equable,
and where the first object of the peo-
pie is to make her comfortable and
contented. 1t is astonishing how much
the Jersey has improved during the
last fifty years. They were once ILL.,
shaped beasts, which knew nothing of
warm stables or good, food but the
people of Jersey had their ideal, and
by careful attention and hard work
they brought their imperfect materials
up to the standard Jersey of to-day.
The race improved so rapidly that the
scale of points was revised three times
during ten years. In 1850 some
Americans of influence became inter-
ested in the Jerseys and began to
make importations, which have been
almost constant ever since. This
American interest gave new stimu-
lus to the Jerseymen, and a great
increase of cattle has been the result.
The American Jersey Cattle Club has
advanced the Jersey interest very
much by keeping the records and by
organizing the official test, by which
the Jersey has been seen to surprise
her most ardent admirers.
A Jersey COW is known to have
produced fortysix pounds twelve and
a half ounces of butter in seven days.
| might enumerate many extraor-
binary cases, but doubtless they are all
we'll known to my readers. The
Jersey Of to-day is the most beautiful
of COWS. We find in her a variety of
colors and shadings F.; frame of such
delicacy and fneness that even
novice could not help being attracted
by her symmetry. In size, the Jersey
is rather smaller than other breeds,
but in America there is a tendency to
cultivate an increase. You seldom
find fat Jersey, for she is by nature a
dairy COW. She assimilates her food
in such manner as to put her fat into
her milk, instead of on her bones. 1t
is often said that the deep orange
lining of her ears is a positive sign
that the animal can give to her butter
that beautiful golden tint without the
aid of butter-coloring. When fed on
grass the Jersey imparts that golden
tint to her butter to such degree that
it is unsurpassed by any other COW.
Too much cannot be said in praise
of these valuable little COWS, but, like
all really good things, she speaks for
herself Whoever has the good for
tune to own even one of them will say
after reading nay few words of praise,
"lia ha | knew it all before"
Hawaii is 1000 miles southwest
IF San Francisco in the same 1atif,1de