410 [Senate 



Mr. Betts, of the Assembly, said the best stock of cattle he had 

 ever seen, belonged to a neighbor of his. They were genuine na- 

 tives. He doubted whether the late imported breeds were proper 

 for the country, or whether our stock could be improved by them. In 

 attempting to improve our stock, we should use that which has been 

 acclimated. He had seen several of these " improved" animals, as 

 they w^ere called. He described one in particlar, which all who saw 

 him thought a very fine one. He was large, and when fat, looked 

 well ; but he turned out unprofitably. He thought there was a good 

 deal of deception in cattle, owing to the manner in which they were 

 kept. He had known men keep their cattle so Jat as to make them- 

 selves poor. 



Mr. Bement said, within the last eighteen years he had had more 

 or less experience with the Durhams, Devons, Herefords, Ayrshire s, 

 and natives, as they are called. He had found both good and bad 

 milkers among the Durhams — generally speaking, the higher bred 

 they were, the less valuable they were as milkers. But he was sat- 

 isfied it was practicable to select from certain families of the Short- 

 horns, those from which a very superior breed of milkers might be 

 reared — a race perhaps superior in this respect to all others. For 

 his land, however, which was rather sandy and light, he liked the 

 Ayrshires ; and so far, was very well satisfied with them. He thought 

 Durhams were better workers than had generally been allowed. He 

 had seen them tried, and they did exceedingly welL 



Judge Leland, of Steuben county, said they had tried several 

 breeds in his section — the Short-horns, Herefords, and Devons, had 

 all been there. Several years ago, Mordecai Hale, esq., who was 

 in some way connected with the U. S. navy, sent some Herefords 

 into that county ; and perhaps he ought, in justice to the advocates 

 of Herefords, to say that they proved the most generally useful of 

 any stock they had tried. They were very hardy, were powerful in 

 the yoke, and a decided improvement on the native stock, for the 

 dairy. Comparing those Herefords with the herd owned at this time 

 by Messrs. Corning and Sotham, he thought the latter showed that 

 the breed had been improved in regard to a disposition to accumu- 

 late fat on the most valuable parts — the " quality pieces," as Mr. 

 Sotham had called them ; but while this had been gained, it was a 

 question in his mind, whether they had not lost something on the 

 score of muscular strength and constitution. In relation to this, 

 however, he only spoke of the appearance of Messrs. C. and S.'s 

 stock. 



Judge L. remarked that his experience and observations had con- 

 vinced him, that the native stock of this section would be improved 

 either by the Durhams, Herefo'^ds, or Devons — that is, a cross from 

 either of these made more projitahle stock for general purposes. 



Mr. Howard, of the Cultivator, said, he should infer from some 

 remarks he had heard in the course of the discussion, the idea was 

 entertained that the improvers of stock advocate a large breed. He 

 believed the idea erroneous — the best and most distinguished breed- 

 ers were never in favor of very large animals. Bakewell, who fur- 



