Chapter 1

The Origin of the Jersey Breed She was certainly not the most beautiful. But she had other characteristics that were irresistible: her milk’s unique and outstanding quality. We are talking about the Channel Island cow that years later became the worldwide Jersey breed. At the time she won her fame as a cow producing milk that could provide ‘very delicate butter much esteemed for taste and color’ (as Jean Poingdestre wrote around 1681), she and her relatives were not a breed with a specific name.

And there were no herdbooks or anything else written to tell the truth about her origin. Nor was there a selective breeding scheme with measureable goals that her owners were heading for. We are back in the 1600s when the island of Jersey – though rather small – had no paved roads and getting around by walking, riding or driving in a cart was common. At sea, wind was the only power to bring the ships across the oceans and proper food onboard was essential to survive the long sails far ashore. Taking a fine build and small cow that could ‘subsist on a small quantity of food’ as expressed later by Reuben Haines in 1823, was a way to get safely from shore to shore and afterwards a great help to overcome the difficulties on a new continent very far from home. Historical sources dating back to 1657 prove that cattle arrived in Virginia in North America at this time – and that English farmers close to London were breeding small ‘Alderney cows’ well suited for the ships of that time. But before the Jerseys, the Guernseys and the Alderneys sailed so far away and made themselves an unsurpassed reputation as the cow of the best milk quality, the Channel Islands might have had an import from elsewhere. So who were the ancestors of the then Channel Island cattle?

Killing the myth of Asian Zebu in the Jersey breed Hans Nørgaard, who in 2002 received the World Jersey Cattle Bureau's Distinguished Service Award for his service to the history of the Jersey breed around the world, has done a great job in tracing back the Jersey breed by following what scientists have published over the years. He states in his paper of the WJCB Conference 2002 ‘Celebrating the Dairy Queen’: “DNA and other molecules found in ancient remains are yielding new information about the origins of European cattle.” David Machugh and Dan Bradley (scientists in Ireland) have for several years researched the question. On 26 April 2001 the international leading science journal Nature had a cover ‘Not out of Africa: Origins of modern cattle’. This issue contains some of the latest results on the origin of the Jersey breed. According to David Machugh there has been a suggestion that the Jersey breed may have Asian Zebu ancestry, perhaps via an African route. This seems to have become a very durable myth and many animal breeders and livestock historians still talk about it. DNA analysis however shows that there is no trace of Zebu ancestry in modern Jersey populations. The Jersey cow is, according to Machugh, a typical northern European cattle population. However, Jerseys do display a low level of genetic diversity, which is not surprising given their island origins.

Newer research made by Kantanen et al. published in 2009 shows that the Jersey Breed origins from ancient Steppe cattle. They write: “According to Epstein and Mason (1984), longhorn grey-white cattle populated southern, southeastern and central Europe from the Russian southern steppe regions more than a thousand years ago. Moreover, we postulate that the globally famous Jersey cattle have an intrinsic origin in these ancient southern Russian steppe cattle, which is supported by our Y-chromosomal data indicating genetic affinity between the Jersey and the Serbian Podolian cattle.” Later in 2009 Kantanen published this: “[A]genetic association between Danish Jersey and the southeastern European cattle breeds of steppe-type has been indicated. As most of the steppe cattle in southeastern Europe are very ancient breeds that evolved during the 12–14th century and were once extensively bred in a vast region of

3000 km from west to east, and 500–1000 km from north to south, north of the Black Sea (Felius 1995), our findings may lend molecular genetic support to a previous conjecture about a Caspian type of steppe cattle drifting through the Balkans and into Spain, and then into France and the Channel Islands (Porter1991). “This genetic connection between Jersey and the steppe-type cattle breeds in southeastern Europe was also indicated in the previous studies. For example, a similarity between Jersey and Busha Cattle was reported by Medjug- orac et al. (1994) on the basis of protein polymorphism. Moreover, in the Neighbour-Joining tree of Mediterranean and northern European cattle populations (Cymbron et al. 2005), Jersey is found to be close to Turkish and Hungarian Grey breeds, both of which are of the steppe-type cattle in southeastern Europe. In addition, a recent Y-chromosomal study (Juha Kantanen et al., unpublished data) pointed towards genetic affinity between the Jersey breed and a steppe-type of breed: the Jersey shares Y-chromosomal microsatellite haplotypes with the Podolian Cattle.” These results are killing the myth of Asian Zebu in the Jersey breed.

Shipping cattle to and from the Channel Islands As already mentioned, three traits were very important to the popularity of the Channel Island cows: – their small size, the quality of their milk and their high feed efficiency. These traits were the reason why they were already in the 1600s documented to be on board ships heading for the new continent to the west – North America. Later on, cattle from the Channel Islands became a huge export to the British Isles. If we want to study the early period of the history we can do no better than read E. Parmalee Prentice's contribution ‘The History of Channel Island Cattle, Guernsey and Jerseys. Privately published in 1940 and reprinted in 1942 in American Dairy Cattle’.

According to Prentice, London’s Port books and Customs House books show many shipments of cattle to Southampton and Weymouth (ports on the south coast of England), from Channel Island ports, - the figures begin in 1724. The books show a steady increase in the number of cattle carried from the Channel Islands to England. Between 1764-65 and 1774-75, the Custom House books record that there were 6,306 animals carried. These figures are, according to Prentice, much larger than those contained in the Port books. This difference was, he said, caused by cattle from France being exported to the Islands then reshipped to England and sold as Channel Island cattle. David Le Feuvre has in his book ‘Jersey: Not quite British’ given a more detailed description of what actually happened: “For some time the Normandy farmer had been in the habit of shipping his cattle to nearby Jersey. There they grazed for a few weeks before being sent on to England to be sold at the many town fairs and markets held regularly throughout the country. By doing so, it could be pretended on import papers that they were Island-bred and thus free from the excise duties imposed on cattle from foreign countries.” Possibly through pressure by the English authorities in 1763, the State of Jersey concluded that something would have to be done. They banned the importation of live animals from Normandy. But this ban had to be renewed in 1789, ‘the fraudulent importation of cattle from France having become a most alarming matter’. It needed more acts passed in 1826, 1864 and 1878 to finally put a stop to this trade. In 1826 John Le Couteur records in his diary: “At church, the Act relative to cows and prohibiting them being imported from France was read by the priest.” There was, however, no prohibition of importing cattle from England. In 1847 Le Couteur received a Guernsey heifer as a present. She 'had 20 points ... (and) may turn out .. a capital cow’. Exports from Guernsey to Jersey and vice versa continued at least until 1871 and it was not until the 1860s that the outbreaks of cattle plague in the U.K. made a ban on British cattle necessary.

Rich milk to support the luxury of the tea table Alderney and Jersey cows were advertised for sale in the English newspaper the Western Flying Post as early as September 20, 1773 and August 21, 1775. And Reginald D. Payn, former editor of The Island Cow, has recorded that cattle were sold at St. John's Fair in the Island from 1792. A prize was offered for the best cow for sale at the fair. A year or two later when the fair was known in England many orders were received to buy cattle . A committee had made themselves responsible for ensuring that only Island-bred cattle were sold. Later on, all trade with cattle from the Islands was organized by Michael Fowler and his three sons. From George Culley –(an eminent authority on cattle) who 1794 published the ‘First Book On Livestock Breeding’, we get an idea of who purchased cattle from the Channel Islands: “The Alderney Breed is only to be met with about the seats of our nobility and gentry, upon account of their giving exceedingly rich milk to support the luxury of the tea-table....” Tea had become the favorite English drink after 1750. At first, tea was served in the drawing room after dinner. Tea in the afternoon is believed to have originated from Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford, in the early 1800s. John, 6th Duke of Bedford (1766-1839), was among the earliest known breeders of Alderney cattle in England. It is believed that Alderneys from Woburn Abbey in 1824 were sold to the King of Wurttemburg in Germany. Henry Colman wrote in 1851: “Few gentlemen or noblemen in England..... are without one or more Alderney cows ... They are kept ... for the purpose, by mixing their milk with that of other cows of a different breed, of giving color to the butter, and richness to the cheese.”

Of all English Jersey herds, that belonging to Lord Braybrooke, at Audley End in Essex, was the oldest. In 1811 his fine dairy herd consisting of ‘large polled Yorkshire cows’ was replaced with Jersey cattle. William Addison’s book on Audley End (published 1953) contains details of the herd, which comprised 23 cows and heifers and one bull. Lord Braybrooke had for many years experimented in stock breeding. So did at that time His Majesty George 3rd at his model farm at Windsor, the Duke of Bedford at Woburn and many others. The collection at Audley End today contains two 19th century photographs of cows from the Jersey herd, but unfortunately no paintings. The herd of Jerseys was the pride of Audley End for a great number of years.

Breeding takes off to improve the Channel Island cows Reginald D. Payn has recorded that the first agricultural society in Jersey was founded in 1790. Payn had collected his information from records of the meetings, more than forty in all from 1790 to 1797. This agricultural society seems, from the beginning, to have been very useful in introducing many improvements, and giving much help and advice to Island farmers. In 1812 the society was still in existence but clearly not very active. At a meeting held on 31 May 1790 at Mr. J. Pepin`s near Grouville church, probably the first attempt was made to adopt new methods to improve the Island cattle. One of the results of this meeting was a decision among the farmers that the offspring of good milkers were kept, and a bull always was selected from the best milkers. In England at the beginning of the 18th century, agriculture was awakening to new methods, and Robert Bakewell (1725-95) began to experiment with establishing and maintaining pure breeds of cattle. A special collection at Newcastle University Library in England includes a series of letters from Bakewell to George Culley. Hans Nørgaard has read those letters and it is notable that Bakewell has

no reflection on how to improve dairy cattle. His idea was to specialize the cattle for different purposes: – mainly for tractive force, beef and milk. From 1811, Mr. Michael Fowler, of Little Bushey in England, had become the biggest importer of Alderney, Jersey and Guernsey cows. He was born at Kirkleatham in Yorkshire, and came to London when eighteen years of age. For years he was a travelling partner in the Great West London Dairy. The total export of cattle from Jersey numbered 132 bulls and 8,029 cows between 1822 and 1828, from Guernsey during the same period 41 bulls and 2,132 cows, and from Alderney 11 bulls and 414 cows. Farmers were paid to improve the cattle Around 1831 the Guernsey & Jersey Magazine stated that there was: “a considerable rivalry between Guernsey and Jersey as to which produced the best and purist specimen of the Alderney Cow.” Probably in both islands some attention was already paid to the improvement of the cattle and according to John Jacob, 1830, the agricultural society in Guernsey offered ‘£60 per annum in premiums for improvement of their cattle’. The taste of the English became more and more important to the islanders as it was claimed in 1830 that ‘.. the beauty and quality of the animal would often make a difference of some pounds in the price’. Something wasn’t at the desired standard and more had to be done. According to some letters written by Lawrence Parsons Fowler and Percival H. Fowler (found among the Stephens Papers in McCord Museum, Montreal, Canada), Michael Fowler must be credited for suggesting to the farmers in Jersey as well in Guernsey that they needed to improve their cattle. “Our father acted as one of their judges for many years and was the first to establish their agricultural societies,” they wrote. It happened in Jersey in 1833 and in Guernsey in 1842. Michael Fowler drew attention to the “established valuable breeds in England which had been developed through selection of the best animals, of the best blood and form . . . possessing the most valuable qualities and fewest defects.” Michael Fowler now, according to his son, gave John Le Couteur in Jersey the necessary information to set up a scale of points describing an animal of perfection. Most likely Fowler has provided the Guernsey Agricultural Society with similar information. Development of the Island cows in beauty and conformation At this time the farmers in Jersey had no herdbook in which pedigree cattle could be registered in order to have purebred animals. If one could then call the Channel Island cattle a breed or not can become a long and rather complicated discussion woven with thousands of ‘true’ arguments. So let us rest on the fact that there were cattle that, at this time of the 1800s, were admired and widely known in Europe and North America for their rich milk – and they were called either Jersey or Alderney or Guernsey. From 1834, the development of the Island cows in beauty and conformation began. The reports published annually by the society show that the ‘board of management’ over the years paid great attention to the improvement of the breed. On April 17, 1839 Le Couteur wrote to Lord Spencer: “All my cattle five years ago had the old Jersey defect, that of being cat hammed, or falling away from the hip to the tail. Now, from having been constantly careful to breed from straight-backed, wide-chested, small-headed bulls, I have

removed the defects greatly. And on some farms, which at starting had better formed cows than myself, all their stock carrying prizes.” Lord Spencer alias John Charles, Viscount Althorp, 3rd Earl Spencer (1782-1845) was a notedShorthorn breeder plus he had a fine little herd of Jersey cows – and was a great authority on cattle. He was one of the principal people involved in the formation (in 1839) of the (then) English Agricultural Society which became The Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1840. In September 1839 Le Couteur visited Lord Spencer at his family estate at Althorp in Northamptonshire. From this visit Le Couteur wrote in his diary: “I had better not cross any English bull with the Jersey for fear of deteriorating the breed, it [should] certainly be preserved pure. Breed from the best on both sides and improve form and (...) Feed up the young calves well, for on that depends for future appearance of the animal.” Le Couteur has later on several occasions reported, that Lord Spencer “.. counseled me to advise our farmers never to risk a cross, even with the shorthorn or Devon, or any other breed. They had a character established for milking and butyraceous qualities... “I had informed the Earl how the bulls reared on the north and north-westerly coast of our island, which was rocky and elevated and exposed to south-west storms, were hardy and enduring, and that cows bred on the southern and eastern coast, which was low, warm and alluvial and richer in pasture, were large-bodied, or fine-form, though rather more delicate than those from the hills. “Lord Spencer recommended to cross bulls from the northern hills with cows in the southern low pastures and vice versa; by which means, if adhered to, our stock might be kept select and superior for ages. This in a great measure is so adhered to.” Establishment of the official Herdbook of the Jerseys In the book ‘One Hundred Years of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society 1833 – 1933’ printed in 1934 it is stated that: “At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19thcenturies, at the dawning of the era known to history as the Industrial Revolution, interest in the problems and the future of agriculture was becoming awakened by the formation of agricultural societies. It was then being realized that agriculture, comprising not only the proper cultivation of the soil, but, no less important, the improvement of British breeds of livestock was the mainstay of the nation.” The first of those societies was established in the late 1700s and during the next 100 years, societies were formed throughout Britain – and in Jersey on 26 August 1833. The Jersey Society was to have a key role in the formation of a herdbook in 1866. On January 13th the Annual General Meeting received a letter from John Vaudin that initiated pedigree as an important and necessary parameter in the breeding of the Jersey cattle. In fact, this was the birth of the Jersey Breed, though it was ‘The Sub-Committee appointed on January 13th (that) drew up Rules and Regulations embodying the principle of preliminary registration and subsequent qualification, a system ideal for a restricted area such as is the Island …’. When many years after, in 1868, Le Couteur was re-elected as president for the Royal Jersey Agricultural & Horticultural Society, he said: “I gave them an outline of the successes of our Society since its formation in 1833 to now, when our cow have risen in value from £12 to £100.”