Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-02-01
THE JERSEY CRAZE.

may a. well say at once that al
not Jersey enthusiast. At the sam
time, would not be understood as con
demning the breed. Long ago the Jer
sey established n reputation as q butte
COW, which II would be vain for me u
ssssil. Fortunately, have no such In
tention. By all means let the Jersey en-
JOY her well-deserved praise; but first b
sure that she Is worthy Of her name
There Is many COW, with drop o
Jersey blood 10 her veins, that is no bel,
ter than the common scrub; yet she vii
bring large price, because she Is Jer
sey. IL is y great thing TO have co.,
~lth a little Jersey blood In her, eve'
though that little Is detriment. Man!
man will buy COW II you say she !
grade jersey, when he would not lool
al her II told she WAS Devon. Now, l
there any sense In this worship OF
breed: Ii Il no sigu thst a COW is priz
Ainner IL she is Jersey.
| Now, there are Jerseys and Jerseys
have seen cows with all the outwar,
marks Of the JERSEYS that would no
compare for moment with cows jus
picked up anywhere. Then there sr'
Jerseys that could not be beaten in an,
respect. II often happens that these lat
ter are quite ordinary cows and would
not attract any attention until MIXED
But Ii seems to be the general opinion
that Jersey mast be good COW, snd I
representative of any other breed nee
esssrily bad one.
would not deny for an instant that :
good Jersey Is better than poor Short
Horn: but when II IL asserted that
poor Jersey IL better than a good Short
Horn. | draw the line. When the point
are equal, the Jersey Is no doubt su
perior, In some respects. As COW fo'
the specialist, she stands unrivsled. Fol
neral purpose, she IL = failure, In m,
opinion. We are not all specialists, b,
any means; we want a COW that can Dc
more than one thing, and do II well
Shall we find IL In the Jersey? Decidedly
not. IL butter IL your sole object, she Il
all right; but there her capacity ends
IL you want q COW that will give large
quantity OF milk, make q respectable
,mount Of butter, resr six or eight
calves, and, when her period OF useful
ness is past, turn into excellent beef, you
must look elsewhere. The sdmircr OF
the Holsteln says that COW fills the bill
The same Ia said OF the Hereford. The
writer will speak OF the Short-Horu, be-
cause more closely connected with that
breed have no hort-iorns for sale
and hav. no wish TO advertise them
even indirectly. II give my experience
IL l.. g. .h Ia ~ ~ nd
no selfish motive.
There are poor Short-Horns just q:
there are poor Jerseys, but even the
poorest will make beef-something that
canuo, be said OF the Jersey. They AT,
large, 'well-formed animals, OF gentle
disposition and unexcitsble nature.
have never found them so quarrelsoms
"a the JERSEYS, which sre always hook
ing, fighting and knocking the weaker
ones about. One brief struggle will
generally decide which Is the "bos:
cow" aud after that they will run to-
gether as quietly as sheep. They vii
all the pail 10 overhowing. both sum
mer and winter. Four cows will make
all the butter for family OF six, beside
buying the groceries and leaving neat
surplus. A, the same time, the skim
milk will be enough for four calves and
as many pigs. The Short-Horn calves
sill grow much faster than Jersey:
under the same conditions. One reason
is, the Jerseys will not eat so much, and
are more apt 10 get out OF order. The
latter must be kept till two years OF sg'
10 bring respectable price, while ths
Short-EIorn can be marketed at least al,
months earlier. This Is quite an item
md well worth considering.
IL. from any cause, the Short Horn
should become useless in the dairy, she
can be- fstt.ned iu three months time
and sold for beef. As every one knows
IL Il next To impossible To get Jersey
TAT The food goes somew here. certsin-
", but not into fiesh. Al present have
young Jersey which IL would bs un'
sise To keep longer Ia the herd. | wish
70 fstten her, but II will take severs
months 10 do so; and when do sell heI
[ cannot get more than two-thirds a,
much for her AS | could for Short
Horn. Ii she were n Short-Horu she
.ould be fat by June and OF nv hands
IL may be said that this Is minor con
.iderstion, but the general farmer vii
not think so. He does not get so ricf
from his butter-though II Ia jersey but
t-r-thst he can afford 10 ignore the
price Of his fstted COW.
This climate may not be suited 10 th'
J-r.ey, or my neighbors may have beer
specially unlucky, but nv obs rvstion:
20 TO prove that the Jersey Is more sub
j-ct 10 diseases than are other breeds
No large herd Is ever free from disorder
of some kind. Now IL il sore feet, nov
the loss Of teat, or troublesome cough
On the other hand, the ShOrt-Horn u
rarely unhealthy. Ism inclined To thinl
that this due 10 the manner In which
their ancestors were cared for. Th'
Jersey has been psmpered till her con
.titution Is undermined. The Short
Horn has had less of the kindness ths
kills" and is more able TO combat dis
| eases now.
All in all, think the Jersey crsze hs'
been costly one 10 many. and more far
reaching In its i'll effects than might b
At first supposed.-GIBB, In Country
Gentleman.