154 [Senate 



Home made goods, ,, $87,945 



Poultry, 12 ,798 



Live Stock. 



5,734 horses. 



33.759 neat cattle. 



98.760 sheep. 

 19,043 swine. 



Animals. — Of neat cattle, the native stock forms the principal 

 number. Notwithstanding the superior properties claimed by foreign 

 breeds over this variety, and notwithstanding our native stock is 

 evidently susceptible of, and requires, vast improvement, it has be- 

 come quite too fashionable among the class of breeders, to speak of 

 it in terms far more contemptuous than the facts will warrant. The 

 best ox slaughtered in this State for years, was a native ox. The 

 fact that this animal was brown in color, with a white face, has led 

 those who attribute every thing to " blood," to claim for him a 

 Hereford descent. This is a misfortune which our native breed ever 

 labors under. Had Mr. Rust's ox been red, the same class of ob- 

 servers w^ould have discovered indubitable evidences of Devon paren- 

 tage; had he been spotted with white, the Durhams would have re- 

 ceived all the honors of his paternity. I have investigated the subject 

 of this ox's pedigree; he was reared in Madison county, and not a 

 particle of proof or rational probability exists to show that he had a 

 drop of Hereford, or any foreign blood in his veins, other than that 

 introduced by the early settlers of our country. 



Excellent dairy cow^s of the native breed may be found in our 

 county, probably excelling in this respect any other variety, except the 

 different families of the Short Horns. Such being the facts, though 

 the American farmer should not give up the attempt to improve both 

 by crossing and selection, he may be excused if he expresses a little 

 contempt for the ignorance or impertinence of the assertion, that our 

 native breed neither do nor can be made to possess any of the points 

 of an improved variety. 



The Durhams were introduced into this county nearly twenty 

 years since by means of a half bred bull. The animal failed to at- 

 tract notice; and prejudice against his color prevented him from 

 being extensively used. He was soon disposed of; but his introduc- 

 tion had this valuable effect, that the few animals sired by him, by 

 their undeniable superiority both at the pail and in the shambles, 

 prepared the way for a more cordial reception of this breed in after 

 years. 



The Yorkshires, or " pumpkin rumps," were next introduced, call- 

 ed Durhams, or Teeswaters, by sellers. Though to an un practiced 

 eye a showy breed, a more worthless one has never obtained entrance 

 into the yard of the farmer. Bad provers,bad milkers, with blue and 

 tasteless flesh, and from their conformation producing their young with 

 difficulty and danger; there is scarcely a point about them which 

 should characterize a profitable variety. 



