No. 63. j 257 



THE BES r BREED OF CATTLE— CROSSING. 



BY J. H. HEPBURN, JERSEY SHORE, PA, 



Among the subjects of inquiry embodied in your letter, I find the 

 following: " Which is the most profitable breed of cattle '?" In an- 

 swering this inquiry, it will be necessary to treat it in its broadest ac- 

 ceptance, and pay no regard to the limited appUcation it would re- 

 ceive, were its answer intended to apply to a particular district of 

 country, where particular situation and particular qualities of soil and 

 keeping would necessarily dictate the true answer to suit those pecu- 

 liar circumstances. Taking it then in its broad meaning, a ready and 

 short answer, if the times in which we live were less inquisitive and 

 more easily satisfied without the why and the wherefore, would seem 

 to some to be the best method of treating it. Leaving the communi- 

 ty, for whose benefit particularly the answer is intended, to test and 

 prove whether it is correct and true in all its bearings, I might say 

 the Improved Durham Short Horn is the best breed of cattle for our 

 country. 



So much has already been said and written to prove this assertion 

 to be correct, that it is difficult to say or write any thing at this time 

 of day, new upon the subject; so much so, that the person who un- 

 dertakes to do it to any extent, will many times find himself repeat- 

 ing the sayings and writings of others who have preceded him, and 

 by whom it would appear almost the subject has been exhausted. 

 This reflection would be nearly sufficient to deter most persons from 

 an attempt to write at this day to enlighten or interest the communi- 

 ty in this question. However, if much has been said and written up- 

 on this subject, there are still very many persons yet to be convinced 

 as to what is their true interest in the character of the stock they 

 keep; and if in other countiies those arguments, and a publication of 

 tlie practical results of experience has resulted in good, it is only an 

 additional stimulant to try their publication here, in hope of the same 

 effect. The subject however might be greatly varied, and with addi- 

 tional interest to our community. I may enlarge the particular an- 

 swer above given, as I proceed, and include with the Durham family 

 that breed of cattle that can be produced by the Improved Durham 

 Short Horn bull being crossed with our best common cows, (thus en- 

 abling our farmers, whose profits would not enable them to procure 

 the breed in its purity, to partake largely of the benefits resulting 

 from the introduction of the Durhams among us;) stating at the same 

 time some prominent faults in the management of the Durham bull and 

 his progeny thus procured^ that call pretty loudly for correction. 



The great desideratum with the farmer and the grazier — for they 

 are so intimately connected in our country, that where you find the 

 one, you always have the other — in the selection of his stock of cat- 

 tle, is to procure a breed that will yield him the greatest profit, both in 

 the dairy and in the shambles; in other words, he wants a breed of 

 cattle that will yield him the greatest return for the food consumed 



[Senate No. 63.J H* 



