JERSEY CATTLE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 76, 11 March 1933, Page 11

JERSEY CATTLE

OBJECTION TO WHITE MARKINGS. “AN UNFOUNDED PREJUDICE.” In the matter of colour the Jersey breed is unique, inasmuch as it covers a very wide range of different tints, including brown and fawn of various shades down to a cream colour, black with light points, dark grey to silvery-grey.

Many Jerseys are mottled, and a large number ar e marked with patches of white, and are spoken of as broken coloured. Although the opposite idea is held by many farmers, broken colour is absolutely no disadvantage whatever in the Jersey breed. In the show ring no points are awarded for colour. Jerseys are not judged on colour, but on type, and the colour of any animal exhibited cannot possibly affect its production, or an award. There would be just as much logic in objecting to purchase an animal on accouut of its name as on account of its colour, broken or otherwise.

Tho objection to broken-coloured animals is nothing less than unfounded prejudice, displaying a want of better knowledge of the breed ad its history, states an authority on tho breed. He says that the prejudice will no doubt disappear when breeders exhibit a bigger number of broken-coloured animals than they do at present. They are quite common at the stock shows in the United States, Canada, England, and in the island of Jersey, where they gain just as many championships as whole-coloured animals. Indeed, the best Jerseys ever bred, both male and female, are broken-coloured. Their name is legion, and their performances second to none, so that to discriminate between the champion and another by mentioning names seems almost an injustice to the remainder. However, it ought to be mentioned that one of the greatest, and possibly the greatest, sire ever bred on the island, namely, the Cid, was a broken-coloured animal, and although many of his gets were also broken-coloured, 60 of them, at an average age of 18 months, were sold at an average price of (approximately) £270. Another outstanding bull exported from the island to America was Oxford Sultan of Oxford. This animal showed a good deal of white, yet his pedigree proved him to be a real aristocrat, and his sons and daughters are doing remarkably well as prize winners at island exhibitions.

Notable amoner the winners of the coveted blue ribbon at shows in England, is a broken-coloured cow, Roberta's Star 2nd. which in 1924 won first and champion at Kent Royal Show, and reserve champion at the Oxfordshire show. The following year she won tho championship at the last-men-tioued show. Another broken-coloured cow, Wotton May Moon, was first and champion at the Surrey County, Tunbridge Wells and Royal Lancashire Shows in 1926. Ono could fill volumes in writing of championships won bv broken-coloured animals, both male and female. The highest records for butterfat production in the Jersey world are held by brokencoloured cows, and yet in spite of all this, there are breeders who still hold to the belief that an animal showing any white is not pure bred. These people would condemn more than half the cattle on Jersey Island itself. Selecting a volume of the Jersey Island Herd Book at random, an examiner calculated the number of broken-col-oured bulls and cows registered therein, and found that 70 per cent, of them had white markings. In some volumes the percentage is higher still, while many of the animals have white tongues and muzzles.