FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 379 



Mr. 1). Woodman said lie liad tried a good many varieties of corn, and pre- 

 ferred the Yellow Dent to any other that he had tried. 



Mr, (Jritiiths. — I plow my corn ground in the fall and cultivate before plant- 

 ing, and usually succeed well with corn. 



Mr. Lawrence. — It pays to exercise great care in planting so as to have the 

 right quantity of seed in the hill and to have it properly covered. I use the 

 two-horse planter, it saves titne and does excellent work. 



Mr. V. P. Lee read the following essay on 



CATTLE. 



If we would be successful breeders of cattle, we should give to our cows an 

 abundant supply of healthful food, proper shelter and exercise; then select 

 the best bull we can afford to purchase, for crossing with them ; and when this 

 is accomplished, we have employed more or less imperfectly all the processes 

 under which the domestic animals of the same species develop into breeds. 

 Good food, or the lack of it, exercise in moderation or excess, shelter or expos- 

 ure, and selection or carelessness in crossing, these make up the sum total of 

 the influences which modify constantly, for better or for worse, our horses and 

 cattle, hogs and sheep. The form, constitution, and temper of every domestic 

 animal is, aside from the characteristics of the species, the effect of the inter- 

 play of these causes. 



Judicious feeding, careful treatment in shelter and exercise, a^id skillful selec- 

 tion for coiqyling, are the key notes to the breeder's art. If one of these be 

 lacking, breeding is nearly a failure. If all are defective, the animals that 

 result are well nigh worthless. We must be careful in regard to mating. The 

 breeder should notice the defects of the female he wishes to breed, and couple 

 her with a male as nearly perfect as possible ; and especially strong in the 

 points where she is weak, and by so doing for a few generations, we shall have 

 arrived nearly at perfection. 



What kind of cattle shall we breed? If we desire a butter maker alone, I 

 answer a Jersey ; because we ai*e sure of a fair quantity of an extra quality 

 of butter. If for milk and cheese, the Ayrshire or Holstein. If for work- 

 ing oxen, the Devon. If for beef, the Hereford. But if you want an animal 

 combining all these qualities, I answer, the 



Sliorthorn, 



because there is no race of cattle that combines the qualities of labor, beef, 

 and milk in such a large degree, as the Shorthorn. This has been fully tested 

 in this country and England. Tlie London dairies are full of the Shorthorns 

 and their grades. And the dairy men of this country are to a considerable ex- 

 tent introducing Shorthorns into their herds. They are heavy milkers, and 

 make a large quantity of butter, and when fattened for the butcher, furnish a 

 good carcass of excellent beef. That Shorthorns cross best with all other 

 breeds, is a fact past contradiction. That they are pre-eminent as a milk and 

 beef breed, has been proven by their spreading all over the world. Wherever 

 they have been introduced they have improved the other breeds of cattle. It 

 has been shown beyond controversy that the older an animal becomes, the more 

 food is required to make a pound of meat. Tlien the younger an animal can 

 be brought to maturity, the more profit there is in him, and I think the Short- 

 horn can be brought to maturity younger than any other breed. They are of 

 a, quiet disposition, easy to handle, and are, therefore, easily fattened. The 



