170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



producing animals. There is one in Connecticut, owned by 

 Mr. Benj. Sumner, which is. really a farm of that description. 

 There is one in Vermont, owned by Mr. Winslow, of Putney, 

 which is another of that description. Up and down the Con- 

 necticut Valley there are a few more ; but as a general thing, 

 the large, heavy-growing cattle, known as Shorthorns, are 

 not adapted to our farms here, either for the dairy or for beef. 

 In the State of Maine, in some fortunate localities', as in the 

 valleys of the Sandy and Kennebec rivers, heavy cattle 

 thrive and do well. We must look upon those farmers there 

 as fortunate exceptions. With our shorter pastures, we must, 

 as a rule, devote ourselves to the productions of the dairy, 

 rather than to the productions of the stall ; and so I would 

 recommend to the farmers here in Essex County, and throughout 

 New England generally, that they should select cattle of such 

 moderate proportions that the short pastures here will feed 

 them well, and of such large capacity for giving milk that 

 they will find ample remuneration in the great milk markets 

 that are continually growing up here on every hand. That, 

 it seems to me, is the first law of cattle husbandry. And so, 

 when you are selecting animals for the dairy as a business, 

 do not select those which gratify your eye on account of their 

 large proportions, but select those which, by their size, and 

 their general anatomical structure, and the physiological law 

 that lies within them, can produce the largest amount of milk 

 on the smallest amount of food. 



Now, I am laying down this law for the best of reasons. 

 Have you not been asked, over and over again, "How much 

 does your milk cost a quart?" How can you tell? One 

 cow Avill make fifteen quarts of milk a day upon the same 

 amount of hay and meal and shorts that another cow will con- 

 sume in making four quarts. How are you going to tell what 

 your milk costs? One cow is producing her milk at a cost of 

 perhaps ten cents a quart, and another is producing her milk 

 at a cost of perhaps two cents a quart. How are you going 

 to tell how much your milk costs ? You cannot tell. It is 

 one of those questions that no man cfin definitely answer. 

 You can tell how much you have spent in raising the milk your 

 herd of cows has produced, taking into account the amount 

 of hay consumed and the amount of grain you have bought. 



