The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1894-03-29
ADVANTAGES OF THE JERSEYS.
PRIZE ESSAY, BY G. S. GROW.

n UIOdu buUJ6Cb W U6 IT6db6u IN one
short article! The advantages are "too
numerous to mention" The Jersey is
pre- eminently the family cow. She is
used as the symbol of all that is best
for this purpose. Brought to this coun.
try with different end in view, placed
in competition with the best of other
breeds, she has fought her way against
prejudice, against all preUonCe!vtd no.
tons OF the proper iurm of the dairy
COW as viewed from the standpoint of
the beef breeds, against the il ess OF
the advocates Of the general purpose
cow-yes, has foughJ them all and
conquered all. Brought here "a the
pet Of the rich mar, she has become
the poor mans best ifiend, and today
the most value for the money, the most
capacity for earning money, can be
obtained in the Jersey. Why do tamil !
les prefer Jerseys to any other breed?
Surely not from any pet theory, but
simply as the result Of II long, careful
ard thorough test. The milk Is good |
tasting-has a body to it, so to speak |
You know you are drinking something |
more than whitened water. There is
satisfaction in taking off thick layer
OF cream and noting how small the
quantity of milk that has furnished it. |
Much has been said and written about |
the blue, worthless skim milk OF the
Jersey but the remarks are all theory,
instead Of fact. One of the most valu
able charac' eristics Of Jersey milk is
the readiness and completeness with
which it throws up its cream, but to
suppose that the resulting thin looking
skim milk is really less valuable than
that from other breeds shows lack Of
knowledge. 1t is an unalterable law
of COW nature that milk containing
much cream also contains much OF all
the other elements of milk, Both
analysis and experience show that Jer-
sey skim milk has usually from 10 to
105 per cent. of solids, while other
breeds with less rich milk seldom ex-
coed 8 s.; and when the fat ia below 3
per cent, as often occurs in the beef
breeds, the skim milk, though appear
ing to the eye to have more value,
really contains only rs to s per cent
solids. There is no better drink dur
ing the heat of summer than Jersey
skim milk drawn fresh from the cold,
deep setting.
But other reasons have operated 10
make the Jersey the best family COW
She is an easy keeper, light feeder
when compared with the product she
yields, mild tempered, handsome, a
sure breeder and breeding very true to
her type. Above all, she is hardly
Not hardy in The sense Of being able to
rough it on the hillsides in winterlike
the Highland cattle of Scotland, but
good constitutional, aole to hold her
own month after month and year alter
year, The Jersey is peculiarly cap
; able OF enduring the confinement OIL
the brain without injury. Ny family
r COW, of course, is Jersey, and hel
history last year is case in point
She stood in the barn the whole thref
hundred and sixty five days, not ever
50 much as let out for an airing into
the barnyard. Every milking va'
0 weighed, and she was tested severa
i times during the year She does not
give rich milk for Jersey, but made
the remarkable yield OF over njr,
thousand pounds of milk. Most c
" this milk was used as whole milk, blu
= butter.tests were made at frequent in
tervals during the year. and indicated
that, if all the milk had been used TO
S butter, she would have produced 46.
S lbs. of butter during the year. He
a feed was the simplest, dry grain ant
C dry hay-eight pounds of grain dali,
n and what hay she could eat. Was sh
/. not profitable investment? Grail
, $500, hay $500, total $4,000, with
= manurial value of the food more thar
:. enough to pay for the labor, while tn
= butter value of the milk at the Low
" price of twenty five cents pounC
= would amount to S115,00. net gain O
$4,000. But as fact this was in a CITY
: and the product, was used and solt
% largely rs milk, 30 that the real &C
count stands nine thousand pound
II of milk at five cents per quart, or NOR
than $4,000, leaving net gain 0
$4,000. What other business ca,
show so large proportion of profit
Did the confinement hurt her? Their
" is nothing to indicate it, on the con
W trary, six weeks after she calved thi
summer she made seventeen and on
it quarter pounds of butter in week.
% Then let lis hear no more about tn
| tenderness of the Jersey. She has .
" constitution to hold her own agains
J. the world for day, week, a month
" q year or lifetime.