Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1911-11-25
The Victory for Dairy Short
no mss

self Green Mountain" sends to the
Breeders Gazette of Chicago an in
ieresting account of the contest at
the last State fair between the Dairy
Short-horn and the Jersey. He
makes much of the defeat of the
Jersey, and perhaps some Vermont
farmer who has stuck to the old
breed" will answer him The com
mnnication in full follows:
4. To The Gazette. The American
Dairy Short-Horn Association was
formed just year ago at the Yer
mont State Fair of 1910. This year
at that state fair the Dairy Short-horn
met the Jersey upon the question of
which was the better butter COW,
and came off victorious. The con
ditions of the contest given in he
premium list of the fair called for
three cows giving, during the two
middle days of the fair, the greatest
milk yield, measured by its money
value as shown by the yield of
butter-fat.
There were originally five con-
testants from each of the two breeds,
making the splendid entry of fifteen
Dairy Short-horns against fifteen
Jerseys, but one by one the entries
dropped out, leaving Tor the actual
competition, one entry of Short
horns to two of Jerseys. The Short
horns were represented bv Doris
Clay, Nancy Lee I'd and Red Rose,
owned by May & Otisy Granville
Centre, Pa, and Wiloughby, O.
II. M. Tucker OF Maine owned one
of the Jersey teams, their names
being Bellies Golden Girl, Maxime's
Golden Gill and Rosette's Miss
Golden. The other Jersey entry
helonged to Fred F. Dow of Yer
mont and the three cows were Lady
Eminent Buttercup, Warder's Crown
and LaChasse's Belle.
The contest was OF great interest
% Vermonters. Tbe>original settlers
Of the state were mostly of English
stock and when they came up the
Connecticut river they brought with
them Short-horns. Until forty OF
fifty years ago they we've the stock
found on Vermont farms and it was
nothing unusual to see great red and
white cows which would give SO to
90 pounds Of milk day, and when
too old for milk, dress off 500 to
1000 pounds. There was hardly
farm which did not have yoke or
more OF Short-horn steers. These
splendid cattle have been nearly
supplanted by the Jerseys, which
somehow the farmers of Vermont
were persuaded to believe were
better, upon the theory that dual
purpose COW which made both good
beef and good butter must--for some
reason never. clearly stated-be
inferior to COW which made butter
alone and was worthless for beef.
Some of Vermont's farmers have,
however, stuck to the old breed,
Just as they have stuck to the Nor
gan horse, and it certainly did them
good to see at the fair the Short
horns of May & Otis. One was
red, one was red-and-white, and the
| other was roan-the three great
colors of the breed. Two were five
and the third was seven years old,
and on safe estimate the sma lest
| would turn the scales at 1850
pounds and the largest at 1900
pounds, great nice cows full of
Short-horn quality, with magnificent
udders and weh-placed teats.
The Jerseys were fine specimens,
being perhaps as good representa-
tives of their breeds as were the
Short-horns. The contest was care
fully conducted, all the cows entered
being MIXED out the night before by
those in charge OF the trial. The
weighing of the milk and the deter
mination OF the percentage of butter
fat were done under the supervision
of Prof. Hills of the agricultural
college at Burlington.
In the final figures furnished BY
the agricultural college the result
was summed up as follows:
short-horns owned by May & Otis.
| Pounds
Name. of butter
Red Rose. +. 4.043
Doris. 50. -. 4.359
Il kr.-.xx ~, OQ1