44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



out mistake. "We have often tried the experiment with some 

 of our best cattle growers, and have never known it fail. 



" The Denmark importation is what gives superiority to the 

 working oxen of New England. It is true that there is a pre- 

 judice among farmers against yellow cattle ; but it is one of 

 fancy merely, for oxen of that color are generally of docile dis- 

 position, tractable, and always excelling in strength ; in short, 

 among the very best oxen upon our farms." 



The native cattle described by Mr. Potter are a docile, hardy, 

 active race, of good constitution. They feed slowly, but when 

 fat make the very best of beef. The cows are good, some of 

 them extraordinary milkers, and the oxen are held in high 

 estimation for work. 



After determining for what purpose you wish to breed, select 

 your male, and in doing this spare no trouble or expense in 

 obtaining a well bred, healthy animal. Few farmers seem to 

 consider this of much consequence. They are apt to take any 

 animal that happens to be in their neighborhood, often involving 

 themselves in loss upon their stock by so doing ; for a calf, even 

 for veal, from a well-bred bull, is better than one from a scrub. 

 The maxim in breeding is that like produces like, or that bodily 

 shape and constitutional qualities of the offspring are in general 

 similar to those of the parents, either combining in various 

 proportions the qualities of both parents, or taking after one 

 only. In most cases in cattle, however, the qualities of the 

 male parent predominate in the offspring. And the advantage 

 gained by selecting a healthy, strong, well-shaped, high bred 

 bull for breeding, cannot be too highly appreciated. 



What is meant by a high bred animal, is one whose ancestors, 

 for many successive generations, have all been good, or have 

 possessed characteristics in constitution and shape which expe- 

 rienced farmers wish to obtain in their stock. The family of 

 such an animal will possess the qualities of their parents, while 

 the offspring of an ill bred animal, or one whose ancestors have 

 been crossed in every possible way, or have no distinctive marks. 

 will present themselves in all the various shapes possessed by 

 their ancestors. The offspring of a cross between two animals 

 of high and low breeding, will most likely take after the best 

 bred parent, and the common notion that the offspring of the 

 first cross is the best, arises from the much more apparent 



