238 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



were more generally esteemed as milkers than his. He was 

 kept in different parts of Massachusetts, even as far west as 

 Berkshire County ; also in Connecticut, where he was owned for 

 several years, and finally, after considerable service in different 

 parts of Oneida County, New York, died in a distillery stable 

 at Clinton, at about twenty years of age. 



It has been already remarked, that at the present time the 

 terms Short-horn and Improved Short-horn are often applied to 

 the same kind of stock. This has resulted from the fact that 

 the improved variety has become so widely diffused, and so 

 much brought to the attention of the public, that, in many 

 instances, the word Short-horn is naturally understood to refer 

 to them, unless some special qualification is used. The case is 

 like that of the modern Leicester sheep. They were at first 

 called after their originator, Bakewell, or from the name of his 

 farm, Dishley ; subsequently they were called New Leicester, 

 to distinguish them from the old breed of the county, but as 

 they have become more extensively known, and the old breed 

 has declined, every body understands the term Leicester as 

 applied to the improved kind. The term Durham, so fre- 

 quently applied to the Short-horns in some parts of this country, 

 is latterly seldom so used in England, and there does not seem 

 to be any good reason for continuing its use here. 



I beg to decline the expression of an opinion as to what 

 breed of cows would be most profitable on the abundant 

 pastures of your neighborhood. The question could only be 

 settled by fair selections from different breeds, an accurate 

 account being kept of the returns of each, and of. the cost 

 of keeping. 



In the foregoing remarks, I have endeavored to be as brief 

 as the nature of the subject permitted, and have generally 

 confined myself to the main point of your inquiries. You are 

 at liberty to make such disposition of this letter, as, in your 

 opinion, will best subserve the cause of agricultural improve- 

 ment, for which you have so long and so usefully labored. 



Sanford Howard. 



