EPOCH MAKING PRODUCTION CHAMPIONS

EPOCH MAKING PRODUCTION CHAMPIONS – 1880 TO 1935

By E.Y. Morwick [The second in a series looking back at purebred dairy production champions that helped shape the early days of their breeds in North America. For part one, please see the Late Spring 2021 issue of Cowsmopolitan!]

9. DOLLY DIMPLE

Dolly Dimple, a Guernsey, was sired by Imp. Yeoman, the son of Hayes Rosie already referred to. Her dam was Dolly Bloom who had a record of 17,298 lbs. milk, 836 lbs. butterfat. Dolly Dimple was bred and owned by Langwater Farms of North Easton, MA. As a 2-year-old in a record that was started in 1910, Dolly Dimple made a record of 14,009 lbs. milk, 703 lbs. butter. Tested as a three-year-old, she closed with a record of 18,459 lbs. milk and 907 lbs. butterfat. Then as a five-year- old she produced 18,809 lbs. milk and 876 lbs. butterfat, the highest milk and butterfat records of a Guernsey cow to that time. By her three successive records, Dolly was credited as being the greatest longdistance dairy cow in the world under Advanced Register supervision. tests, exceeded only by the American record of 14.67 lbs. butter made in 1904 by Pontiac Rag Apple. As a two-year-old, Jenny Bonerges Ormsby in a full year produced 833 lbs. fat and 16,849 lbs. milk, a world’s record for both milk and butter. In her long and productive lifetime Jenny completed five more 30-lb. butter records on seven-day test. These full-pail attainments led Bill Prescott, associate editor for the HolsteinFriesian World, to call her “one of the dairy queens not only in Canada but in the entire Holstein world.” Prescott could not comprehend how an animal with Jenny’s lackluster pedigree could be so prolific at the pail. Prescott, had he done a little more research, would have discovered that Jenny’s sire, Sir Admiral Ormsby, was a son of Duchess Ormsby Butter King who had several daughters above 1,000 lbs. fat. His dam, Duchess Ormsby, was the first cow to bear the Ormsby name, while his sire, Piebe DeKol Burke, was the best son of DeKol Burke, Helena Burke’s famous son. The “Piebe” bull was sired by DeKol 2d’s Butter Boy, the son of DeKol 2d and Sir Abbekerk.

Jenny Bonerges Ormsby was bred by that Holstein pioneer Joseph Fletcher, Oxford Mills, ON, and was born in 1907 in the barn of Charles Robinson, South Mountain, ON. 11. AUCHENBRAIN BROWN KATE 4TH

Auchenbrain Brown Kate 4th reigned as the world’s Ayrshire production champion through the early 1900’s, having produced 23,022 lbs. milk and 917.6 lbs. butter on yearly test. The exact year she finished her lactation – some say it was 1911, has been lost in the mists of time. What is known is that her owner was Percival Roberts, Jr., Penshurst Farm, Bryn Mawr, PA, and she was the centre of his breeding program. Brown Kate’s sire was St. Simon of Auchenbrain, well-known as a sire of productive daughters. Her dam, Yellow Kate of Auchenbrain, had another fruitful daughter, Auchenbrain Yellow Kate 3rd whose mature record was 21,123 lbs. milk, 881 lbs. fat, average test 4.21%. Mr. Roberts’ Penshurst Farm was the birthplace and proving ground of Penshurst Man-O-War whose 1940’s proof showed 167 daughters with an average of 9,360M 4.14% 389F, mature equivalent, 2X, 305 days. As the sire of 19 sons designated Approved by the Ayrshire Association, and as the sire of 2,000 grandsons in service, the influence of this bull was significant. Penshurst Man-OWar traced to Auchenbrain Brown Kate 4th on both sides of his pedigree, most of those connections coming through Kate’s Champion of Penshurst, her son.

12. JEAN ARMOUR

Jean Armour 25487 (A.R. 635) was born in 1901 in the herd of her breeders, H. & J. McKee, Norwich, Ontario. In a lactation she commenced as an 11-year-old “Jean” produced 20,174 lbs. milk and 912 lbs. butter, the equivalent of 775 lbs. fat. She came back at age 14 years to pump out 18,382 lbs. milk and 843 lbs. butter (716

DOLLY DIMPLE Tested as a 5-year-old, she produced 18,809 lbs. milk and 876 lbs. butter, records for a Guernsey cow to that time. Owned by F. Lothrop Ames, Langwater Farm, North Easton, MA.

10. JENNY BONERGES ORMSBY

Jenny Bonerges Ormsby in the Summerhill herd of D.C. Flatt & Son, Millgrove, Ontario, first freshened at 2 years 9 months and on official test produced 19.51 lbs. butter and 457 lbs. milk in seven days. Continued on year test, eight months after freshening she produced 14.39 lbs. butter and 274.6 lbs. milk in seven days, winning her first Canadian championship. This record, completed in 1910, was the second highest ever made by a North American 2-year-old in the special eight months’

JENNY BONERGES ORMSBY In 1910, tested as a 2-year-old, she produced 14.39 lbs. butter and 274.6 lbs. milk on sevenday test, winning her first Canadian championship. During her long and productive life Jenny completed five more 30-lb. records, the first North American cow to do so.

AUCHENBRAIN BROWN KATE 4TH

23,022 lbs. milk, 917 lbs. fat, a world’s record for Ayrshires (1911).

lbs. fat), an Ayrshire world’s record for a cow that age. Bobs 11801, Jean’s sire, was a son of the imported bull, Beauty’s Style of Auchenbrain. Her dam, Sarah 2nd, was a daughter of Royal Chief of Brookside 11798.

In 1915 Messrs. McKee did something that in retrospect seems almost unthinkable, although they may have had good reasons. They dropped their champion into an auction sale. From the catalogue: “Owner’s Statement – In putting Jean Armour under the hammer in a public auction sale, we believe that we are offering the greatest cow that has ever been led into an auction ring in this or any other country. This beautiful specimen of the Ayrshire breed is in perfect physical condition, and has many years of usefulness and profit before her. Her teeth do not show the slightest sign of decay and this, combined with her huge frame and wonderful constitution, go to prove that there are a great many years of high production still in this grand cow.” No record remains as to the price she brought or who bought her. One of the cows who traced her descent to both Brown Kate and Jean was Springburn Lucky Girl, a Canadian champion for lifetime production. She gave 104,013 lbs. milk, 4,368 lbs. fat in 10 consecutive lactations.

13. SUNBEAM OF EDGELEY

James Bagg came to Canada with his parents and sister in 1871. In 1880, now married with a young family, James settled in the village of Edgeley, County of York, where he established his Edgeley Jersey herd. He ventured to the Brampton Farms of B.H. Bull where in 1908 he purchased an animal he registered as Sunbeam of Edgeley. She was a daughter of Brampton King Edward and Daisy of Brampton, the latter an influential matron in the Bull herd.

As a seven-year-old Sunbeam produced 18,744 lbs. milk and 926 lbs. fat in 365 days which at that time was the highest Jersey record ever made in the British Empire. Bagg, on several occasions, entered his cow at the dairy tests conducted at the Guelph Winter Fair. In 1914 Sunbeam came away with the trophy for the highest producer over all breeds in the three days of the fair. Sunbeam’s great-granddaughter, Betty’s Bright Fern, was grand champion at the Canadian National Exhibition in 1945 then was sold to Orange Blossom Jerseys in California where, re-registered as Brampton Jester Betty, she classified Excellent and produced up to 999 lbs. fat.

14. BANOSTINE BELLE DEKOL

Banostine Belle DeKol was the first cow, regardless of breed, to produce 1,300 lbs. butter (1,040 lbs. fat) in a year. Her record, completed in the herd of Dan Dimmick & Bro., East Claridon, Ohio, in 1912, was 1,058 lbs. fat and 27,404 lbs. milk. Belle’s conformation, the feature of which was a tight udder, was of a piece with her productive capabilities. And she came not by accident. She was fathered by Friend Hengerveld DeKol Butter Boy, the Dimmick herd sire who had plenty of “oomph” in his genes. He was sired by DeKol 2d’s Butter Boy 3d, a son of DeKol 2d and Manor DeKol. Sire of the latter was DeKol 2d’s Netherland, another DeKol 2d son. This double dose of DeKol 2d’s blood would almost guarantee high production. Friend Hengerveld DeKol Butter Boy had three daughters with records above 1,200 lbs. butter and four above 1,000 lbs. (800 lbs. fat) and was the first bull to consistently transmit at this level.

Maplecrest DeKol Champion, Belle’s full brother, came to Canada courtesy of Laidlaw Bros. and George Van Patter, Aylmer, Ontario. One of his many good daughters, Queen Calamity Ormsby, was born in 1917 on the Laidlaw farm. In the herd of Eugene Sweet, Belmont, she was the third cow in Canada to produce above 40 lbs. butter, producing 40.04 lbs. butter on seven-day test in 1923. Sir Ormsby Banostine Fayne, Queen’s son by Sir Romeo Fayne, sired Lonelm Dora, dam of Lonelm Texal Fayne, key sire in the Texal line.

15. PONTIAC CLOTHILDE DEKOL 2D

The next cow on the Holstein production roster and one of the most influential was Pontiac Clothilde DeKol 2d, who in 1912 took her place as the first cow of any breed to produce over 1,000 lbs. fat on yearly test. Her record, which she commenced at six years of age in the herd of Stevens Bros., Liverpool, N.Y., was 25,318 lbs. milk and 1,017 lbs. fat. The new champion was a product of that old reliable cross, a daughter of Pontiac Korndyke from a Hengerveld DeKol dam. She transmitted principally through King Segis Pontiac, her King Segis son, whose accomplishments as a positive breed influence are too long to recount in an essay of this nature. One of his best sons was King Segis Pontiac Alcartra, out of K.P. Alcartra, a King of the Pontiacs daughter, the King Segis Pontiac/King of the Pontiacs cross being particularly reliable. King Segis Pontiac Alcartra topped the Breeders’ Consignment Sale in 1911, selling to John Arfmann, Middletown, N.Y. A few years later Arfmann sold a half-interest in the bull to Lawson Holding Co., La Grangeville, N.Y. for $25,000.00. Thereafter, King Segis Pontiac Alcartra became known far and wide as “the $50,000 bull”. King Segis Pontiac Alcartra was sire of King Segis Alcartra Prilly, Pabst Farms’ first Gold Medal sire. Another good son, and his most influential, was King Segis Alcartra Calamity, whose daughter, Colantha Alcartra Acme, was dam of King Toitilla Acme (Extra), sire of the All-American get of sire in 1937. The two strongest factors in the creation of the Canadian bloodline were King Toitilla Acme and Johanna Rag Apple Pabst. The latter likewise owed a debt to Pontiac Clothilde DeKol 2d and to Dutchland Sir Pontiac Rag Apple, her full brother. J.R.A.P. was a great-grandson of both animals.

16. TILLY ALCARTRA

In the herd of A.W. Morris & Sons, Woodland, California, Tilly Alcartra produced 30,453 lbs. milk, which was the first 30,000-lb. record made on official test. She displaced Pietertje 2d’s previous world’s record of 30,318 lbs. which had stood since 1888. Tilly Alcartra was later the Holstein breed’s first 33,000-lb. cow, the first with two records above 30,000 lbs., and the breed’s first 200,000-lb. cow in lifetime production.

On April 23, 1924, Tilly Alcartra was slaughtered after a foot and mouth disease outbreak in the herd of Fred Hartsook, Lankershim, California. She was there for service to Sir Pietertje Ormsby Mercedes 37th. The entire Hartsook herd, consisting of 300 animals, which was considered one of the most valuable herds in the world, had to be destroyed. Tilly’s demise deprived her of any breed enhancing possibilities. Had she produced a son by Sir Pietertje Ormsby Mercedes 37th, imagine his potential.

17. FINDERNE PRIDE JOHANNA RUE

Finderne Pride Johanna Rue was the breed’s first cow above 1,120 lbs. fat on yearly test. Her record at five years was 1,471 lbs. butter (equivalent of 1,176 lbs. fat) from 28,403 lbs. milk. Bred and tested in the herd of Bernhard Meyer, Finderne, N.J., her sire was the Finderne Farms herd sire, Johanna Rue 3d’s Lad, one of the great bulls of the past. Bred by W.J. Gillett, he was a son of Sarcastic Lad from Gillett’s Johanna family. His dam, Johanna Rue 3d, was a product of that stalwart maternal line that went back to Johanna 344 H.H.B.: Johanna Rue 3d, Johanna Rue, Johanna 5th and Johanna. In her maternal line, Finderne Pride Johanna Rue traced directly to Ondine 828 H.H.B., the Gerrit Miller cow who also anchored the maternal line of Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation.

18. FINDERNE HOLINGEN FAYNE

“The impossible has been accomplished,” was the lead sentence in the feature story of the April 10, 1915 Holstein-Friesian World. Finderne Holingen Fayne, milking as a junior 3-year-old, had just won the world’s championship for yearly butter production over all ages and breeds, having produced 24,613 lbs. milk, 1,116 lbs. fat, 4.53% in 365 days. She was bred by Bernhard Meyer and made her record under the ownership and management of Edward F. Meyer, Bernhard’s “son and right hand man”.

The new champion’s sire, King Hengerveld Aaggie Fayne, built a magnificent proof in the Finderne herd. His long list of hightesting daughters included eleven from 30 to 37 lbs. butter on seven-day test. Another daughter, Finderne Mutual Fayne, in a record she commenced at 27 months of age, produced 22,150 lbs. milk and 1,200 lbs. butter, a world’s record when made. She came back as a three-year-old to produce 37.34 lbs. butter, her second world’s record.

King Hengerveld Aaggie Fayne was a son of King Fayne Segis, one of the best King Segis sons. Grace Fayne 2d’s Homestead, dam of King Fayne Segis, was the Homestead Junior DeKol daughter whose record of 35.55 lbs. butter as a six-yearold in 1909 beat Colantha 4th’s Johanna’s performance of two years earlier. Dam of King Hengerveld Aaggie Fayne, sire of the new champion, was Bloomingdale Hengerveld Aaggie, a daughter of Hengerveld DeKol whose dam was a Johanna Rue 3d’s Lad daughter. Mutual Holingen Finderne, the new champion’s dam, was a granddaughter of Paul DeKol, the high impact son of Pauline Paul. Her family went back to the Mutual Friend family. Finderne Holingen Fayne’s record was broken nine months later by Duchess Skylark Ormsby, owned by John B. Irwin, Minneapolis, Minnesota who, milking as a 5-year-old, produced 27,761 lbs. milk, 1,205 lbs. fat, a world’s butter record that brought new attention to the Ormsby line.

SHAKIRA IS NEWEST EX-97 HOLSTEIN

She's no stranger to the limelight, and now Erbacres Snapple Shakira can add EX-97 to her growing list of accomplishments! Fresh in June, she returned to the showring in August capturing Supreme Honors at the Supreme Dairy Show for owners C&F Jacobs, Ferme Antelimarck, Ferme Jacobs, Kilian Theraulaz, TY-D Holstein, QC. She was bred by Erbacres Holsteins, IL, and is a daughter of Miss Apple Snapple (EX-94) and granddaughter of KHW Regiment Apple-Red (EX-96-4E). Congratulations to everyone who has been a part of Shakira's journey thus far!

FAYE EARNS EX-95

Cutting Edge Thunder Faye is a 4X All American, and now can claim an Excellent-95 score! Faye was Grand Champion at the Southwestern National Show in 2020, and was most recently Grand Champion at the Northeast National Show. She was bred by Peter Vail and Ken Main and is now owned by Ken Main and Kenny Joe Manion, NY. She is a 7th generation Excellent on top of her already impressive resume! Congrats!

A 95 PT TANGO!

Adding to her long list of accolades, Peach Kist Total Tango has now achieved EX95! Tango is no stranger to the show ring, in 2019, she was named the Grand Champion of the All American Brown Swiss Show and the Southeastern National Brown Swiss Show. In 2020, when shows were far and few between, she took home Reserve Grand Champion of the Southwestern & Southeastern National Brown Swiss Shows. Congratulations to Lindsay Rucks, FL and her breeder, Jenna Lenhart, MD.

ZORRA NOW EX-95!

Making her way and gaining points over the years proves Pacific Edge Matrix Zorra ages like fine wine. Coming off of her win as first place four-year-old and Grand Champion of the 2019 Western National Jersey Show and the Junior All-American 2-Year-Old in 2017, she continues to make a name for herself scoring EX-95. Congratulations to her breeder and owner, Pacific Edge of Tillamook, Oregon.

EXCELLENT 95 FOR SURPRISE!

It’s no surprise that RJF Gameday Surprise scored EX-95 96-MS. Showing that time has done her well, in 2016 she was Nominated All-Canadian Milking Yearling and in 2018 Surprise was the Best Bred & Owned Senior 3-Year-Old at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Jersey show. Surprise is carrying on her family tradition as her grandam is none other than the 2013 Canadian Cow of the Year, RJF Remake Becky EX96-7E both being bred and owned by RJ Farms, ON.

95 FOR MILOU

Golden Oaks Farm, IL, can cross another excellent off of their checklist. Jacobs Absolute Milou hit all the boxes for the classifiers when she scored the coveted EX-95! This fourth generation excellent was bred by Ferme Jacobs of Quebec, Canada. Milou was recently named All-Illinois Aged Cow. Congratulations to both her breeders and owners!