268 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



up, to keep her in show condition, and for the benefit of the 

 succeeding calf. This inevitably diminishes the milking capacity 

 of any cow, and, if persevered in, must reduce even the best 

 milking race to the normal condition of only giving sufficient 

 milk for the temporary nourishment of its offspring. In select- 

 ing stock for milking purposes, it is therefore important to con- 

 sider, not only the breed, but the individual qualities of the 

 animals and their immediate ancestors, and also the treatment 

 to which they, respectively, have been subjected, as far back as 

 this can be ascertained. 



This in a measure accounts for the very different prices 

 which animals, apparently of equal merit, command, accord- 

 ing to the skill and reputation of their owners. One man's 

 name is a guarantee of a long succession of the best blood, 

 without blemish or imperfection ; while another stamps every 

 animal which he owns as defective in quality or descent, or 

 both. 



Mr. Augustus Whitman, of Fitchburg, furnishes a fitting 

 illustration of the former class of breeders ; and the energy 

 and system which he brings to bear on all his undertakings, 

 well deserve admiration and emulation. Notwithstanding that 

 his movements are impeded by severe chronic lameness, he ably 

 superintends a very large manufacturing business ; and for 

 relaxation devotes an amount of thought and attention to the 

 breeding of improved stock which would in itself severely task 

 the powers of a mind less vigorous cr less evenly balanced. 

 Unlike the man who had such a big pile of wood to cut up that 

 he could not stop to have his saw filed, Mr. Whitman is never 

 hurried or fretted by his work, and his herd of Shorthorns 

 are just what such a man might be expected to own. Starting 

 with the conviction that a union of great milking capacity with 

 the properties of symmetry, early maturity, large size and quick 

 feeding is possible and desirable, he has brought to bear both 

 skill and capital to illustrate his theory ; and he has now con- 

 fessedly the best herd in New England, while he is doing much, 

 very much, to diffuse correct ideas on the subject of breeding. 

 Fully recognizing the two important axioms, that like produces 

 like, and that, especially for purposes of reproduction the best 

 is always the cheapest, Mr. Whitman has filled his stalls with 

 worthy representatives of the best herds in the country, and a 



