348 STATE BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



been a great teacher. In the future, we may be beuefited by the past, and 

 must combine theoiy with practice. 



Any animal Avhich will best accomj)lisli that for which it was designed, with 

 the same expense of keeping as another, is the most valuable. I believe a large 

 portion of our State is better adapted to the growth and improvement of that 

 class of cattle known as Shorthorns than of any other breed. I do not wish to 

 be understood as thinking there are not localities better adapted to other breeds, 

 but I shall confine my remarks to the central and southern parts of this State. 

 Nowhere do blue grass and white clover grow more luxuriantly. Corn, millet, 

 and Hungarian grass can be raised cheaply, and we have an abundance of tim- 

 ber for buildings to protect stock. From our location we can easily ship to other 

 sections, and our climate is such that cattle shijiped away will readily acclimate 

 in other localities. 



It is not every practical farmer who can make a successful breeder ; but the 

 more of them who breed successfully, the greater the demand and the better the 

 market. It is often for lack of knowledge that people fail to improve their 

 stock, believing the improved cattle are not worth the money asked. for them. 

 There never was a better illustration of this than tlie case of my own herd, 

 grown in this county from 1868 to June, 1874, when they were sold at auction. 

 Had they been left to purchasers of central Michigan, they v/ould not have 

 brought what they were worth for beef in a good market. But by there being 

 two or three ''posted" men from other States, the cows and heifers sold for 

 about half price, as was proved by 14 of the 18 being resold in Illinois in one 

 year for double the money. There were five bulls, which were needed to improve 

 the stock of this section, but did not receive even a bid. One of them I have 

 since sold for more than would have bought the five on that day. I have one 

 left, which I do not believe I could replace for $1,000, to use in my present 

 herd. 



Mr. Wood contrasted the prices in Michigan with those of Kentucky, v/here 

 Shorthorns are extensively raised and appreciated ; and remarked that one of 

 the cows which at his sale, with a calf by her side, brought 8410, was sold the 

 next year in Kentucky for §1,175. 



In discussing this difference in prices, as also the question as to whether any 

 animals were worth the latter price, he referred to the prices obtained in Eng- 

 land by improvers of this class of cattle in the 18th century, one animal being 

 sold for upwards of $5,000. Mr. Wastell, of England, who was considered an 

 eminent judge of cattle, said that a long line of the best ancestors was indis- 

 pensable, if men wished to breed to a certainty, always bearing in mind that 

 great judgment is requisite in pairing the most proper males with suitable 

 females. Thomas Bates, the originator of the Bates cattle, said in regard to 

 breeding that ''if their form be ever so good, without the grand requisites of 

 good hair, handling and style, Shorthorns never are and never can be good ani- 

 mals. The value of pedigree depends not on its length, but on the length of 

 time there has been a succession of the best blood, without any inferior blood 

 intervening." 



From the date of the first importation into this country in 1776 up to 1873, 

 the breeding of Shorthorns in this country had been actively pursued by some of 

 our most intelligent breeders, and the stock has been from time to time renewed 

 by fresh importations from the most noted herds in Europe. Many of the best 

 cattle of England had been imported, and it became evident to the English that 

 the cattle in America were equal if not superior to theirs, and they came here 



