The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-11-06
The Guernsey Cattle.

1t is pretty well understood by all
who know anything about cattle that
the Jersey and Guernsey breeds were
developed on certain islands in the
English channel. 1t is also understood
that they belong to class of animals
that are noted chiefly for their ability
to yield milk exceedingly rich in highly
colored butter fats. So closely have
breed distinctions been drawn that no
person of ordinary common sense hon.
estly expects to obtain big carcass of
beef, or an immense flow of milk from
the "Channel Island cattle. They
have been bred in the most careful and
thorough manner with this one idea of
butter production in view. Most peo-
pie, however, are prone to confuse the
two butter breeds, and imagine that
Jerseys and Guernseys are one and the
same thing. The object of these notes
is to point out few of the chief diff
ferences.
Jersey and Guernsey are islands in
the English Channel. Where the cat
tie found on. these islands originally
came from is mostly conjecture; but it
is generally accepted as true that, for
many years, the cattle on all the islands
were much the same. There came a
time finally when the English and other
markets demanded certain Characters
tics in dairy COW, and the more enter
prising Jersey breeders set themselves
to the task of producing it. The Eng
lish fancier demanded a spirited, beauti-
full COW for his lawn. The first demand
was for graceful and beautiful creature,
rather than for increased butter pro-
duction. The breeders on Guernsey
were more conservative than their
neighbors. They were not carried
away by the craze for color and grace
full figure, but went on breeding in their
slow and steady way, big, quiet COW,
with gold in her skin, in her ears, and
around her horns-not to speak of
Jumps of it in her milk.
That was long ago, and the breeding
and selecting that have been going on
since have made the Jerseys and
Guernseys similar in some respects, yet
different enough to separate them as
breeds. The Jersey Island breeders
soon found that they could not produce
the ideal COW for the English lawn if
breeding stock from Guernsey was al
lowed on the island. The Guernsey
breeders also concluded that they could
not keep up the cherished characteris-
tics of their breed if the lighter and
more graceful Jerseys ran in their
herds. The Guernsey men passed the
strictest laws - absolutely prohibiting
the importation of breeding animals.
The ship that landed such an animal
was to be forfeited, with imprisonment
of master and crew. The result was
that the Guernseys remained as pure as
any breed known. They continue to be
bred in careful and conser Vative way,
with the single idea of producing strong
and quiet cow capable of extracting a
large percentage of the fat in her food,
and giving to it high color.
Naturally, the Jersey was developed
into a more nervous and high-strung
animal, because this was what the first
buyers demanded. You might take
two brothers-send one to a great CITY
and the other to a quiet farm. Let
their descendants for two generations
be brought up around them. The
country grandchildren will be quite I'M
like those reared in the city; yet they
are OF the same original blood. Each
might be justly called superior at some
work. This is but an illustration of the
way the two breeds separated origin
ally. The Jersey breeders have al
ways been the more enterprising, and
when solid-color and black points "
and other fads wore out, and a practi-
cal working COW was demanded, the
Jerseys were quickly headed in that di-
rection. Some of the breeders were
too eager in this change. They over
did the thing by forcing their best cows
to perform extravagant tests, and by
inbreeding, TO preserve some cherished
type, sadly weakened certain families
of their breed. The Jerseys have been
widely scattered, and have adapted
themselves to all climates and condi-
tons. The Guernseys have not been
doomed or pushed and their distinctly
good qualities are not 80 well known.
This very conservatism of the Guern.
sey breeder has been, in one sense, a
good thing for the breed. Its sterling
qualities have been retained and slowly
developed without any loss due to
chance or speculative breeding. AS
between average specimens of the two
breeds, the Guernsey is The healthier
and harder animal She is also the
better barn COW, and will give better
results on the care usually given the
working dairy COW. She is less ner-
[sHK THIRD ooLuhr.1