FARMEES' INSTITUTES. 349 



and made purchases, that they might maintain the high standard which their 

 cattle had reached. 



This created a demand here for such stock, greater than it otherwise would 

 have been, and the i^rices were high. At the New York State fair in 1865 Ezra 

 Cornell exhibited 3d Lord Oxford, which he sold to an English breeder. Mr. 

 Thorn, an eminent breeder, remarked on this sale: "Mr. Cornell did well, for 

 he bought him at six weeks old for S1,000, had the use of him two years, and 

 sold him for $3,000 ; but he cannot replace him in this country or in England 

 for the money, for I now have two orders for Dukes or Oxfords in my pocket 

 that cannot be filled." 



In 1873 a new era came in the prices of this class of cattle. At the New 

 York Mills sale there was competition between England and America, as also 

 between Englishmen, from $10,000 to $20,000 being bid for Dukes and Duch- 

 esses, and in three or four instances even more. This was not for the reason 

 alone that the demand was greater than the supply, but because they were bred 

 so strong in a line, in all the qualities combined, that they improved nearly all 

 other Shorthorns when crossed on them. Still a Duke might not be worth more 

 than 1300 to cross on "scrub" stock, when he might be worth $3,000 to serve 

 a class of Shorthorns. The same animal would be worth $10,000 to breed to a 

 class of very high bred Shorthorns, for it is admitted that without a Duke or 

 an Oxford the high standard of the Duchesses cannot be maintained. 



Our American Shorthorns may be divided into various classes. The common 

 or not strong bred, with perhaps some crosses that a,ve not good, sell from $100 

 to $300. The most practical cattle for improvement range from $300 to $1,000, 

 depending on shape, quality, and pedigree, especially the top crosses. Another 

 class includes Mazurkas, Peris, Wild-Eyes, and others, which frequently sell 

 from $1,000 to $5,000 a piece. Some of the Princesses, Eoses of Sharon, and 

 Oxfords, have sold as high as $5,000 to $10,000, while the Duchesses are Avortli 

 from $10,000 upwards. Many bulls have been used almost exclusively to im- 

 prove the common cattle of the country. Such animals, well bred, bring from 

 $100 to $300 apiece, depending on how good they are, where they are used, and 

 how the people are educated. The first named class of Shorthorns are better 

 than native cattle, and if people can appreciate the difference, they will more 

 readily accept a still better class. 



No one in a country like this can afford to raise a "scrub" or common crea- 

 ture. He cannot afford to keep a cow that will not give more than 15 or 30 

 pounds of milk or make more than one-half or three-fourths of a pound of but- 

 ter per day, when from an improved cow, which would require no extra expense 

 of keeping, he could have nearly or quite double the amount of milk or butter. 



I sold a Shorthorn grade to C. B. Eastman, of New York. She calved Dec. 

 34, 1873, and Jan. 1, 1873, he commenced to weigh her milk. For 180 con- 

 secutive days she gave 40 pounds of milk daily. 



In regard to butchering qualities, Mr. Wood said he could not do better than 

 give an extract from an address by Thomas Bates, as follows: "The improve- 

 ment of the live stock would not require the employment of an additional hand, 

 and if but one more pound of butchers' meat in ten could be obtained (and 

 those conversant in the feeding will readily admit that more than double this 

 increase might.be expected), how much would be contributed to the advantage 

 of the farming interest ; and if the live stock were universally improved in this 

 proportion, how great an addition would bo made to the prosperity of the 

 nation." 



