332 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



There were nine bulls entered for premium in this Class. 

 Two by George M, Barrett, of Concord, 2 and 4 years old. 

 One by Leonard Hoar, of Lhicoln, S^ years old. 

 One by John Brooks, Jr., of Princeton, 3 years 10 months old. 

 One by Silvester Phillips, of Hopkinton, 3 years 8 months old. 

 One by Luke Sweetser, of Amherst, 2 years 3 months old. 

 One by John W. Lincoln, of Worcester, 2 years 7 months old. 



After a careful inspection of the animals, and an examination 

 of the statements of the several competitors, as to age, treat- 

 ment, rearing and keeping, and also pedigree as far as given, 

 confirming purity of blood in this race, we recommend that the 

 premiums offered by the trustees, on Ayrshire Stock, be awarded 

 as follows : — 



much milk in proportion to tbeir size and food, but not in proportion to the 

 room they occupy, and the increased trouble they give from being more 

 numerous in order to require the requisite quantity of milk. 



" They produce an unusual quantity of rich cream, but there was so much 

 difficulty in procuring them so as to keep up the stock, and the price asked for 

 them was often so great, that they were comparatively abandoned." 



As to their fattening qualities, the same writer says : " They unite, perhaps, 

 to a greater degree than any other breed, the supposed incompatible proper- 

 ties of yielding a great deal of milk and beef. It will be long, perhaps, before 

 they will be favorites with the butcher, for the fifth quarter will not usually 

 weigh well in them ; their fat is mingled with the flesh, rather than separated in 

 the form of tallow. Two circumstances, however, may partially account for 

 their not being thought to succeed so well when grazed. They are not able to 

 travel so far on the same keeping as the highland cattle, and from their great 

 value as milkers, they are often kept until they are too old to fatten to advan- 

 tage, or for the beef to become of the first quality." 



If the laudable efforts made by the Massachusetts Society to introduce full 

 blood dairy stock, should be seconded by county societies and individuals, by 

 encouraging the keeping the various races pure, and insisting upon a full his- 

 tory of all prize animals, tracing back their pedigree, the farmer will soon have 

 at his command, the means of comparing and ascertaining for himself the cross 

 most desirable. And although it may be admitted that the first cross from pure 

 stock may excel in some points, a further cross will produce a degenerate and 

 uncertain progeny. Therefore the importance, if any one proposes to breed 

 grades, of being certain of the purity of the parent stock upon one side ; as 

 almost universal experience has demonstrated that you are far more sure to 

 breed a good animal from a full blood, crossed with a race having no affinity, 

 than from half-bloods of the same race. 



