HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN CATTLE.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7264, 25 January 1889, Page 2

HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN CATTLE.

By S. Hoxra, • Harpbb's Magazine. The ancestry of these cattle may be traced unalloyed for more than two thousand years. The history of the Nether lands goes back three hundred years before the commencement of the Christian era. At that time that portion of country bordering on the North Sea was called Friesian. It extended over the present provinces of North Holland, Friesland, and Gronlngen, and over the German border to the river Ems. Its inhabitants were classed by the Hermans with the "Northern barbariansl"> They differed from their neighbours in their love of peaceful pursuits, especially the care and breeding of cattle.

In 1282 came the decisive inundation that produced the Zuyder Zee—a broad and permanent channel from the sea far inland, separating these cattle breeders into two groups—the western occupying a stretch of country tb»t was. for a long time called West Friesland, now constituting the major part of North Holland; the eastern, the present provinces of Friesland and Groningen. In the western division the influence of Batavian and Celtic blood has rendered the inhabitants less conservative, and changed the language to modern Hollandish. In both drtfsions the cattle are the same in blood; they are kept in the same manner and used for the same purposes. The farmers are all dairymen, and all combine the production of butter, cheese, veal, and beef in their pursuit.

The system of dairying pursued differs slightly in the two divisions. In Priesland butter-making takes precedence. From the skim-milk, cheese is made. The whey is fed to calves or older cattle, with an allowance of oil-cake. Their cattle are always kept in what American farmers would call superior condition. In North Holland the only material variation from this system is in making cheese from the milk immediately as it comes from the herd. The noted Edam cheese is produced. It will be noticed that these systems involve the utilisation of every cattle product—milk, butter, cheese, veal, and beet They thus draw profit from both the leading tendencies of bovine nature — milk-giving and flesh-making. They give no credit to the theory that the " functions of the one antagonise those of the other. On the contrary they have demonstrated on the largest possible scale that when intense activity of the functions of the one ceases, if an animal Is normally developed, healthy, and well* fed, intense activity of the functions o* the other begins. In looking on their herds there is a strong impression that these peasant-farmers are correct in their views. The broad loins and wide romps of their cattle seem just the place lor the finest quality of beef, and equally the proper support of capacious udders. At two years of age, with rare exceptions, they commence giving milk, and at six or seven years old they uniformly go loaded with flesh to the butcher. These dairymen do not lose their dairy plant at the end of every eight or ten years in a lot of old and worthless cows. They sell their cows well fattened at an age when their flesh is of the best quality. The price obtained pays for extra food that may have been used, and replaces them at a profit, with younger animals.

As a race stock these cattle have become widely noted. They have sent off-shoots into all the richer grass sections ot northern and central Europe. In some instances these have been established so long that, prevailmg over the native cattle, and slightly changed by environments, they have taken names corresponding to their location. Some of the most renowned breeds of Europe are of such origin. Among these are the Flanders or Flaxnande breed of Belgium and France, the Breitenburg and Oldenburg breeds of Germany, and the Kolmogorian breed of Russia. Our Secretary of State in 1883 procured reports from our consuls upon the breeds and products of cattle tfacoogkoot the world. From Belgium such reports call special attention to " the Hollandaise or Dutch cow, and the Flamandeor Belgian cow." Inane of these reports the consul says: "The breeds to which I allude present in outward appearance, and in results for both the dairy and for beef, cattle that cannot be surpassed the world."

The reports from France are confirmatory of those fwm Belgium. The origin of Flemish cattle, the pore JBlamande breed, and the sab-breeds that have taken the names Bonlooaise and Artesienne, are credited to importations from the shores of the North Sea, whence, says one of the writers, "came the breeds of Holland, Schteewig, Holstein, and Jutland, all remarkable for their milWnfl Qualitfes." Similar reports also come from Germany. The consul of the province of Silesia selected foar hundred of the largest herds of cattle in his district with the view of ascertaining the favourite breed. Two hundred and seventy-two handled exclusively pore Dutch cattle; the balance was occupied by a dozen or more of other breeds and their grades. .' .;

The most interesting of all was that from Consul-General Stantou, of St Peters" burg. Hβ found on the fertile lands at the mouth-of the river Dwina, within two and a half degrees of the arctic circle, an offshoot of this race, named from the locality the Kolmogorian breed. It was originally a cross between this breed and the native cattle of Archangel, and dates from the time of Peter the Great. It is remarkable for its yield' of milk, and the' fine quality of veal which it produces, it Iβ the favourite breed at St Petersburg, and U used to improve other Bossian breeds.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries these cattle appear to have been largely imported into the British Islands, and became influential in the formation of some of the most renowned breeds of England and Scotland. Professor Low, whose writings are regarded as eminent authority on the British breeds, says; "The Dutch breed was especially established in the district of Hoidernees on the north side of the Hdmber, whence it extended northward through the plains of Yorkshire, and the cattle of Holdetness still retain the distinct traces tin 1840] of their Dutch origin, and werejong regarded as the finest dairy cows of England. Further to the north, in the fertile district of the Tees, importations likewise took place of die cattle of the opposite countries, sometimes from Holland, and sometimes, by the way of Hamburg, from Holsteinorthe countries on the Elbe." fie adds: "Of the precise «xtent of these early importations we are impezfeetly informed, but that they exercised a great b>. flnence on the natfre stock appears from this rirrnimtanca, that the breed formed DTthemixtar&becatae familtartr aoaocra.

as the Dutch or Holstein breed, under which name it extended northward through Northumberland, and becam naturalised in the south of Scotland. It was also known as the Teeswater, or simply the " Short-horned breed," from whence our modern improved Shorthorn breed originated. Sanford Howard, an equally eminent authority, in writing of the Ayrshire breed, says: "It is not improbable that the chief nucleus of the improved breed was the 'Dunlop stock' so called, which appears to have been possessed by a distinguished family by the name of Danlop, in the Cunningham dis. trict of Ayrshire, as early as 1780. This stock was derived at least in part from animals imported from Holland."

The attention of American breeders has never been called to these cattle to any extent until within the last fifteen years. The fact of our using a common language with our English cousins, and the assumption of English breeders that they alone possessed breeds of cattle worthy of our attention, have been a bar to our study of the Continental breeds, one that even now is difficult for many to break over. Yet it is inferred that a strain of these cattle was introduced into this country at an early date. From 1821 to 1684 the eastern part of the State of New York was the Dutch colony o* New Netherlands. Daring this period many Holland farmers settled along the Hudson River and in the rich valley o* the Mohawk. They probably brought cattle with them from their native land, and crossed them with cattle purchased from the other colonies. Of one thing there is a certainty, for many years after the cattle of the Mohawk Valley were called Dutch cattle, and were especially esteemed for their superior milking qualities. The first importation of which we have any positive knowledge was made more than a hundred years later. We are indebted to Mr Dudley Miller, of Oswego, New York, for an interesting account of it. It consisted of six cows and two bulls, and was sent, in 1795, by the Holland Land Company, which then owned large tracts in the State of New York, to their agent, Mr John lincklaen, of Cazenovia. As described by one of the early settlers of that village, " the cows were of the size of oxen; their colors clear black and white in large patches; very handsome bodies and straight limbs; horns middling size, but jrraeeftilly set; their necks were seemingly too slender to carry their heads." In 1810 a bull and two cows were imported by Hon. William Jarvis. and placed on his farm at Weathersfleld, Vermont. Abouts the year 1825 another importation was made by Herman Le Roy, a part of which were sent into the ▼alley of the Genesee ; the rest were kept near New York city. Still later an importation was made into the State of Delaware. No records were kept of the descendants of the cattle. Their blood was mingled and lost in that of the native cattle, yet its impress was long recognised in the various localities to which these importations went. The first permanent introduction of this breed was due to the perseverance of lion. Winthrop Chineryi of Behnont, Massachusetts. His first two importations and their increase, with the exception of a single animal, were destroyed by the Government of Massachusetts, in consequence of a contagious disease by which they were unfortunately attacked. He made a third importation in 1861. This was followed, in 1867, by an importation for Hon. Gerritt S. Miller, of Peterborough, New York, made by his brother, who had been attending the noted agricultural school at Eldena, Prussia, where this breed was regarded with great favour* These two importations, with an Oldenburg cow owned by Hon. W. H. Russell, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and three animals from East Friesland, imported by General William S. Tilton, of the National Military Asylum, Maine, formed the nucleus of the "Holstein Herd Book," the first volume of which was published in 1872. The time was propitious for the introduction of a breed with the characteristics of these cattle. Dairying had become an important in. dustry of the Northern States, and was extending to the prairie lands of the West, where especially large cattle were demanded. No breed ever spread with such rapidity. Its progress was opposed by strong prejudices, yet it seemed to gather new force from every public manifestation of such opposition, until now, in less than sixteen years from the publication of that apparently insignificant volumes, it has become one of the largest and most popular breeds in our country.

It has greatly enlarged the possibilities of milk and batter production throughout our richerdairy sections. Oar dairymen have been awakened, and their views changed in regard to the capacity to which they may raise their herds. Thirty pounds of milk a day, 5000 pounds a year, and 7 pounds of butter a week were considered twenty years ago as large yields, and even now are above the capacity of unimproved cows. The progress of such change of views may be traced in the progress of records that have been made by cows of this breed and publicly credited. The cow, Crown-Prineesa, owned by Hon. £erritt S. Miller, of Peterborough, New York, in six years, from 1870 to 1876, made a record of 61,1121bsofmilk, an average of 10,1851bsa year. Thi3 was followed by the record of Lady Uliffden, owned by Hon. W. H. Bussell, of Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1875 she gave in 362 days 16,274 pounds; in 1876, in 282 days, 12,243 pounds; and commencing May 1, 1877, in 396 days, 13,232 pounds. The Maid of Twisk, owned by the Unadilla Valley Association, a company of dairy farmers in central New York, followed this by a record far 303 days, in 1876, of 12,563£ pounds; for 32s days, in 1877, of 14,312 pounds ; and for 336 days, in 1878, of 15,060 5-8 pounds. Next came the records of the noted cows Aegis and Aaggie, owned by Messrs Smiths, Powell, and Lamb, of Syracuse,, New York. In 1880, in 365 days, the former gave 18,823$ pounds, and the latter 18,00415-16 th pounds. With the exception Of Aegis, these were all imported cows, and it began to be questioned whether such cows could be produced in this country. The answer came in the test of the cowEcho, bred by Mr Miller, and owned by Mr F. C. Stevens, of Attica, New York. It was for two successive years, beginning March 19,1882, and closing May 23, 1884. During the first year she gave 18,120$ pounds, and during the second year, after a brief rest of about ten weeks, she produced 23,7754 pounds. These records aroused the attention of Dairy writers* especially in England, They were pronounced impossible. Plausible argument ß were made to show the inconsistency o* such records with the amount of material for making milk that a cow could digest. Public confidence in them was shaken for a brief period. At this stage of public senti. ment a test was begun of the cow Ciothilde, owned by Smiths, Powell. and Lamb. They invited the closest scrutiny. They offered to pay the expenses of some of the most prominent scientists to come and thoroughly investigate this test. A number of gentlemen availed themselves of this offer. It was also placed in the official charge of the superintendent of the Holsteis-Friesian Advaneedßegistrar, who from time to time sent official inspectors to watch the miUdnga, to test the scales upon which' they were weighed, to examine into the accuracy of the account that was being kept, and into every other detail in which there might be a possibility of error. None was discovered and the accuracy of the record was put beyond all reasonable doubt. The result was the production of 26,021$ pounds in 365 consecutive days—a record of more than 2000 pounds above any that had been previously made. It seemed at that time that the extreme capacity of milk production by a single cow had been reached-

But now, while this is being written, the cow Pieterjie 2d, owned by Mr Dallas B. Whipple, of Cuba, New York, has reached a year's record of 30.318J pounds. The production of this has also been closely watched by disinterested parties; and the proof is so convincing that it will bo received by the public with much les 3 doubt than were the early records of halt this amount Since 1880 many other cows have exceeded Aaggie's noted record. Among these are Ethelka, at 18,131 7-16 th pounds, and Jamaica, at 19.547 pounds, both owned by John Mitehell, Vatl's Gate, New York; Violet, at 18, 677J pounds, by Edgar Huidekoper, Meadville, Pennsylvania ; Lady De Vries, at 18,84*$ pounds, by L. H. Payne, Garretsville, Ohio; Empress, at 19.714J pounds, by Hon. G. S. Miller, Peterborough, New York ; Glenburnie, at 20,1384 pounds, by B. B. Lord and Son, Sinclairville, New York; Rhoda, at 21,309 pounds, by F. C. Stevens, Attica, New York; Princess of Wayne, at 20,469 9-16 th pounds, and Aaggie 2d, at 20,7633-Wfch pounds, both by T.G. Yeomans and Sons, Wai worth, New York; Boukje at 21,679fc pounds, by Stone and Carpenter, Waverley, Pennsylvania; Konlngen van Friesland sth, at 19,700£ pounds, by ABradley and H. D. Warner. Lanesville* Connecticut; Koningen van Friesland 3d , at 23.617J pounds, by H. O. Warner, New Milford, Connecticut; Sultana, at 22,043$ pounds, by H, C. Jewet* and Co., Buffalo, New York; and Albino 2d, at 18,48413-16 th pounds (in two year form), Netherland Belle, at 19.516J pounds, Aaggie Rosa, at 20,227 8-16 pounds, Lady Fay, at 20,502 8-16 pounds, and Clothilde 2d, at 23,602§ pounds, by Smiths, Powell, and Lamb.

Such records have been of so much interest in this country that the breeders have given much more attention to the production of quantity than to quality of milk. They have fed and cared for their cattle to produce quantity. Inconsequence many have inferred that this breed is an excellent one for the production of milk and cheese, bat that it is not adapted to the production of butter. Notwithstanding this impression it has now entered into a contest for the highest place as a butter breed, and the rapidity with which it is gaining such a position is a public surprise. The first step toward this was the winning of the Challenge Cup offered by the Brkkdebs' Gazettb, of Chicago, for the largest thirty days' butter record. The contest for this cup was open to the world and to all breeds until July 1,1883. It was won by Mercedes, a cow of this breed, owned by Thomas B. Wales, of lowa City, lowa. Her record was 99 pounds 6£ ounces. This result awakened much controversy. Demands were made for further competitive trials. Several took place in the three years following, at cattle shows in the Western States, uniformly resulting in the success of this breed. Yet they were not considered conclusive, as the best cows of other breeds were not put in competition. At this stage of public opinion the New York Dairy Show of 1837 was conceived. Long before its opening it was widely known that one of it* most important features would be a contest for the championship in batter production. This was to be decided by a twenty-fou r hours' trial in the hands of an Impartial committee. It was entered upon for the purpose of testing the claims of the different breeds. Cattle elate and breeders associations were deeply interested in it, and gave every possible encouragement to the bringing forward of the best repre. sentatives of the breeds they maintained. Probably no similar contest was ever arranged and conducted on more even terms. No criticisms were made against the manaagement up to the hour of an. notmdng the result. The championship was won for this breed, the cow Clothilda receiving the first prize, and the three' year-old heifer Clothilde 4th the second prize, both owned by Messrs Smiths, Powell, and Lamb. In other departments tnere were contests for quality of butter, where the breeds were indirectly pitted against one another. In these contests this breed also won more than its proportionate share of prizes.

It is only within the last five years that the breeders of these cattle have been specially testing the batter capacity of their cowa. Messrs T. G. Yeomans and Sons were pioneers in this work. In testa made of their herd of less than 40 cows, 2g were found to average a seven days' production of 17 pounds 7J ounces. Aaggie 2d made 26 pounds 7 ounces hi this length of time, 105 pounds 1Q& ounces In thirty days' and 304 pounds 5§ ounces in ninety days. This was followed by tests of other breeders. Mr Thomas B. Wales also found 29 cows owned by him that made an average of 17 pounds SL67 ounces. One of these, Tritomia, at four years of age, made 25 pounds ounces. Messrs Smiths. Powell, and Lamb find 100 cows owned by them that average 18 pounds 0.06 ounces in tests of the same length of time. Among these, Netherland Princess 4th, at twenty-eight monthsold, madeaipounda 10| ounces; Albino 2d, at three years old, 25 pounds 14£ ounces, while in thirty day 8 she produced 106 pounds 14 ounces. Their cow Clothilde, at full age, made In seven days 28 pounds 2£ ounces. In the small herd of Mr Eugene Smith, of Nashville, Tennessee. 7 cows are reported with an average of 17 pounds 6.57 ounces in seven days. Among other noted tests is that, of Florence Herbert, owned by Home Farm. Hampton, lowa, at 27 pounds 18£ ounces in seven days, and that of Nleltje Korndyke, the property of E. J. Burrell. Little Falls, New York, at 93 pounds 12 ounces in thirty days. ,

Notwithstanding the antiquity of this breed, its first herd-book was that issued by American breeders in 1972. Thia was followed in 1875 by one in the Netherlands, its original home. Five years later another was published in America by an associa. tion of breeders who objected to the Holstein, by' which they were generally known in this country, and against which there were strong protests from the breeders in Europe. In view of their origin and the source from which they were imported, thfaL association adopted the name Datoh-HHtoai. In the same year another herd-boqpsi|raß issued in and for the province of Friesland, where the .breed had been especially guarded tor ages. Since then herd-books of these cattle have been published both in Belgium and Germany.. In 1885 the two American associations compromised on the "name Holstein-Friesian, and united their registry. • ■ •■ • " ' /* ;•;■■--■ -' In their native country none but select cattle are admitted to the herd-books. It is not enough that they are pure bred! they must also be superior. This requirement is of the highest; importance. Being the " common cattle" of the Netherlands, and handled by all classes of breeders, some of whom are indifferent to their standing, in whose hands they degenerate as in other hands they improve, there are great diversities in their build, quality, and capacity. To the credit of American importers, they have generally sought for the best. Yet it is beginning to be felt that continued selection is the basis of continued success. This is true not only of the breeders of these cattle, but also of those handling other leading breeds. In consequence of this, a system of advanced registration has been commenced in this country for this breed, conditioned on superior build and quality, and especially on capacity for milk or butter production. The first volume of tbi* registry was pu\yllshed in 1887. The standard for butter production of this volume, below which no fuTUaged cow was accepted, is 16 pounds in seven consecutive days, and the stand aid. of milk production of cows of the same age is 10,700 pound* in .ten consecutive months. It has proportionately lower standards for younger cows. It contains over seven hundred records. The actual average of these records for fullaged cows is 13,43713-lflth pounds of milk in ten months, or 18 pounds 13.6 ounces of butter in seven days. Beiow this, lor

H four-year-old heifers the average . j 12,901546 th pounds of milk, or 17 poa^ 3 ounces of butter; for three-yeajMj 1 heifers, 10.889J pounds of milk, O ru 1 pounds 0.33 ounces of butter; and for : year-old heifers, 9433 1516 th pounds of ~i milk, or 11 pounds 3 ounces of butter. I

American tikill and enterprise flafl . this breed peculiar material on which 5 work. It is as hardy as the Acnerics!! scrub, it has no hereditary diseases of any kind, and it is pecnliaJ; plastic in its adaptations,aa may be saenk, its perfect acclimatisation in the rigoron! climate of Archangel as well as i a a; sunny climate of France. And asanobieS of pleasure and of beauty no cattle reepoM more generously, or appear more pietj? resque on a background of green fielcf&Jn!i none are more emblematic of rural WeSS and content. , •*