THE DUCHESS STOCK. 123 



been lying down, we should have found them very "free- 

 and-easy." 



Dr. Bro^ts^. At this late hour I will take but a moment. 

 I want to say how much interested I was in hearing the paper 

 of our friend Dr. Allen, and I hope I shall have an opportunity 

 to read it. I mean to read it and to study its principles. I 

 do not propose to go into these questions now, but I have 

 been placed where I have seen some of the results of hered- 

 itary influence. I want to make only one slashing criticism. 

 You know, if you have read Mr. Allen's previous papers 

 which he has given to the pubMc, that he speaks of the dis- 

 grace of the speculative element which has entered into the 

 breeding of cattle, and cites some of the influences which tend 

 to that ; and among others, the fashion of the day. Now, it 

 is the fashion of some men, who have a great deal of money to 

 spare, to get very fine-looking stock, and the breeders look 

 to that rather than to utility. A^Tiat the farmers of Barre 

 want is cows that shall pay their expenses in the form of milk. 

 I merely want to state in reference to an idea that has been 

 thrown out in relation to the Duchess stock, that I had at one 

 time occasion to visit the farms of Mr. Sheldon, in Geneva, 

 and Mr. Cochran, in Quebec, at which these experiments were- 

 represented to have been made, and I will merely say that I 

 was told they had been carried on until the cows will not give 

 milk enough to raise their own calves. 



Dr. Sturtevant. I wish to correct one impression which 

 I think ought to be corrected. It is against the improvement 

 of our stock to have the idea go abroad that unusually high 

 prices are demanded for thorough-bred cattle. I would like 

 to ask the gentleman what breeder of Ayrshires charges him 

 from five hundred to one thousand dollars for a bull or cow, and 

 what breeder would call two hundred and fifty dollars a low 

 price for a good cow ? I think that the cases where over five 

 hundred dollars are paid are very rare indeed. The price has 

 never struck one thousand dollars but once, to my knowledge. 

 One cow, remarkable for its superior beauty and excellence, 

 was sold for one thousand dollars. Two hundred and- fifty 

 dollars will buy the very best Ayrshire stock, with a good 

 pedigree, — a pedigree that will bear examination. If you 

 want to get a show animal, you have to meet an active compe- 



