The Jersey Cow and the Broadlands Herd

The Broadlands cattle herd featured Jersey Cows. Jersey Cows were initially bred on the British Channel Island of Jersey, utilizing stock from the French mainland. The cows were favored in dairy herds because of their small size and high milk and butterfat output. They are also a hardy breed that is extremely adaptable to a wide range of geographical and climatic conditions. They range in size from 800 to 1,200 pounds.

Gates’ herd featured superior imported breeding stock and included a number of champion cows. Some of his cattle actually came from the farm on the Island of Jersey from which Broadlands took its name. Gates’ prize cows were exhibited both at local fairs and national exhibitions. For a number of years, Hoagland used a specially constructed box car to send around twenty animals to State Fairs and live stock exhibitions up and down the eastern seaboard and throughout the Midwest.

Hoagland Gates was dedicated to implementing modern scientific methods within the dairy farming industry. He was one of the first breeders to put into practice the blood testing of cattle for Tuberculosis and Bangs Disease. Gates was a respected member of the Eastern Shore Cattle Club, President of Maryland Jersey Cattle Club, and a director of the American Jersey Cattle Club.

Hoagland Gates belonged to a number of state and local organizations dedicated to the advancement of cattle breeding and husbandry. This is his certificate of membership in the American Jersey Cattle Club. Gates served as one of the directors of the organization.

This image reportedly shows the first bull to arrive at Broadlands farm. The very early date of the photograph is confirmed by the fact that the image depicts both the new buildings of Gates’ Broadlands complex on the left and the old Bowen House on the right. The photograph shows that Gates had, by the date of the photograph, already torn down the old kitchen wing on the back of the Bowen House, but the main block of the house remained. This suggests that the photograph was taken in early 1930s.

Broadlands bred Jersey cattle were among the best available in the United States and were highly prized by dairies and other breeders. Hoagland Gates shipped his cows to shows and exhibitions all across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Mid-West.

In 1928, Hoagland Gates formalized his cattle breeding and sales activities in the form of a company named Broadlands Jerseys, Incorporated. This was one year before he actually purchased the first parcel of the land that would become Broadlands Farm. By means of this stock certificate, he transferred one share of the enterprise to his daughter, Anne.

This photograph shows Jersey cows waiting to be loaded aboard a ship in the Harbor of St. Helier on the Island of Jersey. The Island of Jersey is located in the English Channel between England and France. Jersey exported thousands of head of cattle. Prior to World War II, all were transported by boat. This is how Hoagland Gates would have acquired the best of his original breeding stock. After World War II, Jersey began to ship its prized bulls and cows by air.

Listen as Phyllis Copley Machledt discusses farming at Broadlands.