114 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



be the all-purpose animal of the country. Aberdeen Angus are hardy, valuable 

 animals. Jerseys produce gilt-edged butter. Ayreshires are good milkers. The 

 symmetrical little Devous are hardy and useful for work, butter or beef, and 

 several other breeds are claiming attention, and any or all of these are a decided 

 improvement over the scrub. But which shall we choose? the one whose form 

 pleases our fancy the best, or shall we investigate the subject farther and see if 

 we can learn which will make us the most money, that being the prime object 

 in breeding? Men rarely keep cattle as pets simply, but for the money they 

 can make. 



I am not here to advocate any particular breed of cattle, nor to make war 

 upon any but the scrub. 



Who can doubt that improved stock will pay, when on every side are farmers 

 who are making it pay, and when more are going into it every year and never 

 one turns back. Not an instance of failure. 



There have been men who have made a failure of farming, even with 

 improved stock; but their failures have not been due in any sense to the 

 improved stock. 



Good breeding, good feeding, comfortable quarters, careful handling and 

 kind treatment, all combined, are indispensable factors in profitable stock 

 growing. 



Mr. Gibbons being called on, said : Mr. Chairman, I would rather hear from 

 practical cattle men than speak myself. My theories lack the test of practice, 

 but my observation through the State is in favor of the views expressed in the 

 pa})er. Good stock not only makes bigger profits but makes bigger men, 

 broader men, better business men, men whose ideas don't wholly come out 

 of the ground. 



Mr. Yates: In 1844 the Hereford cattle were first heard of in this country, 

 when Sotham and Erastus Corning of Albany, introduced them. Then for a 

 while they were thrown in the shade till 1870, when they came again into 

 popular notice, and from that time they have increased in popular favor, and 

 now nothing can stop them. They are the only well defined breed that holds 

 its characteristics through its grades for four or five generations. The 

 Shorthorns cannot do this ; they have no well defined marks to distinguish 

 them. 



Mr Phillips : Did Mr. Yates ever raise any Shorthorns? 



Mr. Yates: Yes ; in 1832. My father was a Shorthorn man then. 



Mr. Peabody : One of the best ways of determining the value of our stock is 

 shown in our stock shows where, in judging, they use the test of performance. 

 "We must select our breed by what we want to accomplish, e. g., I wanted butter 

 and selected a breed accordingly, and have since received 30 cents per lb. for 

 my product. Furthermore, having spent a good deal of money to get our 

 animals we have been willing to spend enough money to make the most of 

 them. 



Mr. Phillips: What is Mr. Peabody' s breed? 



Mr. Peabody : It is the kind that your Dutchman eats on toast. 



Mr. Phillips : I will give a $100 bull calf to anybody who will raise a Jersey 

 animal that will produce more good meat than my Dutchman can eat at one 

 meal, provided he doesn't have to pay for it. 



Mr. J. Martin Wilcox : In one respect the paper hit the mark, viz., care. 

 If you don't care for a thing you won't get anything from it. W hence are 

 our scrubs ? From originally good animals degenerated for want of proper care. 



