CATTLE FOR GENERAL PURPOSES. 169 



Now, in answeiiiig the question us I liave, I must not he under- 

 stood as saying that all will, or can have the same success b}- keep- 

 ing the Diuhani, or an}- other breed of cattle. As I have already 

 intimated, there is such a variety to our Oxford county farms in 

 productive capacity and quality of products, as regards cattle food, 

 that equally good results cannot be expected in every instance. So 

 has the farmer's situation, his circumstances, and the aptness or 

 faculty which he has in stock management, much to do with his suc- 

 cess in this branch of farm industry. 



To illustrate, we will suppose we come to farmer A's and find 

 upon his farm a herd of fine cattle, large, sleek and handsome. In 

 seeking for the reason we see that his pastures produce an abundance 

 of the most nutritious grasses, while his fields yield a large quantity' 

 of first quality hay and his barns show that his cattle are nut only 

 well fed but well housed. At his neighbor B's we find a very 

 different class of cattle. In looking for a cause for such disparity 

 in cattle of perhaps the same breed in the same neighborhood, we 

 find B's pastures produce only a scant supply of poor, innutritions 

 herbage, and his fields, if giving a fair quantity of hay, the quality 

 is so inferior that it fails to meet the requirements of animal growth, 

 while an examination of his barn convinces us that he does not 

 consider warmth and comfort an essential element in animal gi-owth. 

 Or, if under these conditions B's cattle are equally as good as A's, B 

 must use a large amount of purchased food, so that his profit (if 

 profit there be) is ver}' much less than his more fortunately situated 

 neighbor. 



So all the way along between these two extremes are the conditions 

 under which Oxford county farmers are placed. Some are satisfied 

 with stock keeping, being favoraltly situated and having good facili- 

 ties for its care and management, and are reaping a profit from it ; 

 others are doing fairly well, and some are doing well even under 

 unfavorable circumstances, and all honor be to them. There are a 

 few whose scant pastures and infertile fields make stock keeping up 

 hill work. Such are constantly changing from one breed (if breed 

 they have) to another, or are desirous for change. Now, the best 

 change they can possil)ly make is to change such a farm for a better 

 one ; or if not that, to turn out the poorer parts of their fields into 

 pasture and strive witli might and main to increase the fertility of 

 the remainder. 



