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Show Holsteins the Producers of Much Milk By Stanley Milward Member Kentucky Board of Control for Charitable Institutions THE cattle called Hotstelns In America urc all descendant! of or direct Importations Impor-tations from Holland, and nearly all of tliem are from the provinces of North Hol-lund Hol-lund and Frlesland, where are found the types most pleasing to Ame-ricans. The antiquity of the breed Is so Knot that history records no period when the shores of the North rea ond lis Inflowing rivers I were not noted for their great black and white cattle. The N'ctix rland herd book states that the pedigree of these c tf I.? dates hark over 2,0o0 years, and that they descended from the cattle of the Fi-lfslandcrs. who several hundred hun-dred years before Christ inhabited the country coun-try north of the river Waal and I he Ithine, That would n cm (o be fur enough back. in comparatively Modern times we find importations of these coltle playing an Important Im-portant If not a fundamental part In the foundation of both the Shorthorn and the Ayrshire breeds, ns may hi- readily ascertained ascer-tained by reference to the history of those breeds. 7n continental Kurope these c-ittle and their offshoots iiave stamped their Impress Im-press In every dlretilon and are found In j more countries, occupying greater territory and producing more milk, butter and cheese than Mil the catlle of othrr breeds rombfned. This breed has spread from Us place of j origin far eastward, even to Russia, whero at the mouth of the River Dwina, on the. I edge of the arctic circle. It is represented by a breed called Kllmogorlan. which Is the most highly valued In that section. South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and. Indeed, most sections of the world where dairying Is done, have substantial representation of tho Holstein, and in their purity, too. cjnai.in-tlne cjnai.in-tlne laws appear to be responsible for their absence In any largo number in England. From 1621 to 16CI the eastern part of tho ilntx nf Vntv- Vnrb il. I t.iii.i. fat. f..rpi a food that Is not conducive to health and growth, either In tho human being be-ing or In n calf. The scientists tell us that nutritive values of foods are best measured by their heat-producing heat-producing powers; now if we compare cow by cow, or the hcat-produc Ing power of ill" solids yielded by on breed, with the solids yielded bv another breed, we will have a demonstration of nutritive values. In a test of this sort mode ,y the Ohio station, where : herd of Jerseys and a herd of lbdstclns were compared. It was found that the nutritive nutri-tive viilj- of the Iloi-tem yield exceeded that of tin- .lersev by per cent. The health and etrcpgtl) of the ll-.lsteln Is marvelous. The breed Is posst s-ed of great 1'onslllullonat vlgT or vltul fore, and to this is due its great productive power, hardiness, hardi-ness, adaptability to varying climates or conditions con-ditions and i.-. unvarying reproduction. The cows sue r guhir breeders irnd they breed Inie to color and form. The power to impress Its color and characteristics "I"'" whatever breed niay be brought In contact with It I? very noticeable. The Holsteins have threat dlu- Mive and assimilative power, ami from icilfho-.d to maturity ma-turity they moke no choice as lo the mjallty of their food; it Is only mee-.sary that th-nipply th-nipply bo ample. Proi-table dairy cattle nre characterized bv these two points, for there !: no profit In those catlle that consume con-sume only the food ( oippoit. The profit comes from the food chiimihioI, digested and assimilated above that ne -d. d f..r maintenance, mainte-nance, and the greater the amount llio latger is the owner's profit. Milk, butter, veal, beef tlx ye are tin-products tin-products that Ihe roughage of our farms must be transmuted into, and catlle which will the mo:.t fr.-elv do this wl'.ho'it the aid of costly concentrated feeds are the more aluabl". In the older countries of the world catlle are used both for the production of meat and Colantha 4th Johanna, the iVorld'i Greatest Milch Cow One of the greatest aids to profitable dairying is the Habcock tester, usee! to determine de-termine the per cent of butter fat in milk and cream. It is bnsed on the principle that fat is not decomposed, oxidized or destroyed by sulphuric acid and is lighter in weight than the compound resulting when the acid is added to milk. Heing of lcs wcihtf the butter fat is forced by centrifugal force whirling around in the IaI-cock IaI-cock tester into the neck nf an especially made bottle, where is indicated the per cent of fat in the quantity of milk used. ........ ..v.. v. .x .,3 in,.. i,uiiu eoiouy ui New Netherlands. During this period many Holland farmers settled along the Hudson river and In the rich valley of the Mohawk. They probably brought cattle with them from their native land, and crossed them with cattle purchased from the other colonies colo-nies Of one thing there 13 a certainty: For many years after, the cattle of the Mohawk valley were collod Dutch cattle and were especially esteemed for their superior milking milk-ing emalltles. The first importation of whleh wc have any positive knowledge was made more than a hundred years later. It ccn-jdsted ccn-jdsted of six cows and two bulls, and was sent In 1755 by the Holland Land company, which then owned large tracts In the stato of New York, to their agent, John Llncklaen cif Cazenovia. As described by one of the early settlors of that village, "the cows were of the sire of oxen; their colors clear black and white In large patches; very handsome hand-some bodies and straight limbs; horns middling mid-dling size, but gracefully set; their nocks were seemingly too slender to carry their heads." The physical appearance of the Holsteln breed Is well known, but to an admirer there Is never-ending delight In their striking black and white colors, their large, symmetrical forms showing highly specialized ability. They nre very attractive cattle from any standpoint, and their many equalities and characteristics render them extremely valuable valu-able In any soi t of agriculture; nnd they doubtless combine the highest dairy capacity and meat-producing capacity of any breed now In use. To be less general, the Holslein cow In comparative size ranks with the Shorthorn; the dimensions of her frame are quite as great and at maturity she will average 1.250 pounds, while It Is not unusual to find them weighing 1.500 pounds, and some remarkable cows have reached 1.S00 pounds. Of the more famous bulls Paul De Kel weighed 2.".00 pounds, Paul reels De Kol C 000. Sarcastic Lad 2,100, Ilengervcld Do Kol. 2.000. The average measurements of mature cow's has beeti found to be. In girth, 7.VC Inches; height at shoulders, 51. S inches; at the hips, 53 Inches; length of body fre.ni extreme ex-treme point of shoulder to extreme point of rump, 61.0 Inches; width of hips, 21.9 Inches. 'The cnlves are large, exceeding tho?c of the href breeds nnd weighing 70 to 100 "' pounds at birth, and this f.ict Is of especial importance to those engaged In rnlslng veal. I am Impressed with the Import-imc of securing large dairy cows, for there seems to be no doubt that size has an important bearing upon the economical production of milk and butter. Inherited tendencies, conformation, con-formation, age and other things seem to determine de-termine th.-t the food for support or maintenance mainte-nance is not In proportion to weight or flze, but rfither decreases proportionately as size Increases; and I (irmly believe that It actually ac-tually takes less food to produce 100 pounds of milk from a cow with equal merit welg'n--Ing 1.J50 pounds than from an 800-pound cow. The general milking qualities of this breed are freely conceded as far beyond those of uriy other dairy catlle. Indeed somo enthusiastic fellow has said that thev will drown any other breed In their milk. Somo years apo, when It was the practice to strive only for annual milk yields the reported records of there great Holstein cows were regarded by the public us Impossible; yet satisfactorily nuthentleuted records of lS.OOu to 20,000 pounds of milk In twelve months were reported In very considerable numbers, and the cow Pb-tc-rtje 2d reached the enormous enor-mous yield of C0,lSi pounds. Dally yields were equally marvelous, and numerous instance in-stance nre to be found of cows y ielding 100 pounds In twenty-four hours, and the highest high-est dally yield was that of Whackdand Boon of 122 pounds S ounces. Under such conditions as properly belong to animals of such development 2-year-olds w ill yield 5.000 to 6.000 pounds in ten months and will Increase this amount until at 5 ; years they will give from 7,000 lo 12.000 pounds. It Is w -11 to remember that It Is not the cow that gives the milk bearing Ihe largest percentage of fat, but the cow which produces pro-duces the largest amount of butter fat that wins out. It Is admitted that Holstein cows do not yield milk bearing a percentage of fat with the Channel island breeds, but in fat it ranges from 3 io 4 per cent and from 0 to 10 pi r cent rolld.s not fat. It is milk of a distinctly different type, und these two types of milk should not be contrasted from the butter-fat point alone. It has been much the custom to speak of rich milk, meaning " thereby milk carrying a high percentage of butter fat, and it has only been of recent years that other qualities have been much spoken of. Jt Is well to impress the fact eif the now freely recognled nutritive value of the solids not fat and to assert that the great value of milk as human food is in the solids not fat, 't seems that abundant solids not fat. accompanied bv an excessive proportion of for dairy purposes. In oar country the time I,: fast approaching, with the Increased valuation valu-ation of land, when this combination use will lie very general. Such use of this breed hr.s always been made In Holland and other parts of Lure.pe. The Holstein -possesses these qualifications to a high degree. Her broad loin and rump afford suppeirt for a capacious ca-pacious udder and likewise a place for the finest beef. The well-rounded body and symmetrical sym-metrical quarters are no bar to milk production: produc-tion: and were we to follow the practice "f the Hollanders, as Ircninstances w ill In time force us to do, we should sell our cows for beef before they are worn out as milkers and while they are still vigorous and capable of laying on flesh, lieef of this sort Is of tine quality find flavor and by eminent judges is deemed even superior to .Shorthorn beef. In Holland thev give no credit to tho theory tlV.it the functions of milk giving antagonize an-tagonize those of flesh making. On the contrary, con-trary, the Hollanders have demonstrated on the largest possible 6cnle that when Intense activity of the. one function ceases. If an unl-mal unl-mal is normally developed, healthy and well fed, intense activity of the functions of the other begin. In looking on their herds there seems to be no doubt of the ccrrcctncss of the views of these pcubant farmers. 'Die broad loins nnd wide rumps of their cattle seem Just the place for the finest quality of beef and equally the proper support of capacious ca-pacious udders. As an object of pleasure and beauty no catlle respond more generously or appear more picturesque on a background of green fields; and pone are more emblematic of rural wealth and content. . |