The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1894-05-24
"KEEplNG ONE cow"
rRIzn nssAY, hi wEnn noNNnLL.

PRIZE ESSAY, ny WEBB DoNNELL,
ia re gre some hundreds Of thou
sands VI iamilies III America whose
possessions in the dairy line comprise
but one COW each, Its OF the highest
Importance to such families that the
COW in each case should be not simply
"passably good, r even Every good, i"
but the best that is attainable with
the money that is at hand for the pur
chase Of such milk and butter sup
plier 1t is hardly necessary to tell
one who has examined at all into the
matter that thousand of these famil-
les are being yearly cheated of their
just dues by the cows they feed, water,
shelter and otherwise care for. 1t is
notorious that many of these family
cows do not return half in the quality
OF their milk yield what their owners
might receive If the same expenditure
of care and feed were bestowed upon
a COW with well developed dairy char,
acteristics, which in very many cases
their Improperly called "family cows"
do not now possess. The special needs
OF individual families differ largely as
regards dairy supplies, but in the av
erage family it is richness OF milk thai
would yield the greatest satisfaction
and would prove the greatest assist
ance in decreasing the cost of living
for, whether milk is to be used as .
beverage, as means Of modifying the
natural flavor OF tea, coffee or choco
late, or as a source from which to OBJ,
tain a supply OF butter, it is the fat
solids which it contains, il rich in
these, that makes it agreeable to the
! taste if used alone, that heightens the
} modified flavor Of the tea or o.heI
drink, and that giveE the gratifying
, yield OF butter. There are very few
0 families indeed whose wants can be
. supplied and comfort ministered TO, sc
far ss dairy supplies are concerned, b.
J milk that is deficient in the solids that
@ appear in the form OF cream and but
o ter. They are tbs essential consti,u
:, ents that give milk its chief valu',anC
= the COW whose production is not rici
, in them is not sufficiently essential t.
Il a family to be properly called a fam
e lily cow" In the selection OF a COW Il
~ best meet the needs OF this large elias
OF people, the Jersey presents stronl
= claims to a favorable recognition, 70
in the richness Of her milk she is ad
u mittedly unsurpassed, while in tn
quantity OF her yield she is, il we
bred, not inferior. But there is NOR
than this to be placed 10 her credi
D. excellent as is record for such con
y bination of traits. The Jersey cow
remarkable also for the wonderil
economy OF her food consumptio
compared with the richness of her pr,
n duct. 1t would be folly to argue thu
BY a Jersey cow eats next to nothing IAN
70 on such sparse diet gives large guam
VII ity Of the richest milk but the FRIEND
OF the Jersey can with truth maintai
that the breed is magnifcently e.
dowed by nature with the ability
% turn the largest possible proportion
= the food eaten into butter solids
D. trait that has been intensified by d
cades OF careful and scientific breedir
m and this, it should be remembers
ia is the supreme test OF a dairy CO
The business, the machine or Il
dairy animal that returns the large
revenue on the amount required
u run" it is pre- eminently the mo
to profitable of its class; and consider,
en- in this light also, the Jersey COW pl
sents strong claims to the favorsf
q consideration OF such as desire to ke
but one COW. From business poi
- OF view The Jersey is unexcelled as
family COW, and her excellence in IL
be respect will perhaps appeal me
18th strongly to the average family; b
9TH there is another aspect in which I
ose Jersey presents strong claims to fay,
lty The aesthetic side of the question is
Tor no mean Importance, for the fami
COW in many families is, IN very truI
The a member Of the household, and h
go, the pride Of at least the younger me-
lra bers of the family centered in b,
ng There is no more beautiful object
w. the animal world than the gracel
mild eyed Jersey. and there is
dumb friend more worthy TO associa
on terms Of intimacy with the tamil
She is companionable, affectioua
Old, gentle and supremacy beautiful to Il
sight and when these aesthetic qua
ties are added TO the rarest excellen
ps III the purely practical limo Il dai