THE PERFECT COW. 103 



Mr. Everett (of Princeton). The gentleman who has 

 just taken his seat has said many things that it would be well 

 to observe, and which I should commend; but, sir, his ex- 

 periments, as he has stated, have extended over only six 

 years. Can any of us expect that the model cow which will 

 come in the generation ahead can be obtained in that length 

 of time ? How was it in relation to beef cattle ? How long; 

 were Colling and Bates, and Whitney and Fowler, and other 

 men in England, who were the first breeders of the old-fash- 

 ioned stock, — how long were they in getting the perfect ani- 

 mal for the slaughter ? Indeed, we have not got it yet. We 

 have the bullock pretty nearly perfect for slaughter, every 

 part that gives the best steak and roasting pieces, and with 

 the least waste of the poorer parts. It is almost a hundred 

 years since they commenced breeding for the purpose of giv- 

 ing us a perfect animal for beef; and yet the gentleman is 

 surprised that he has not succeeded in getting the model cow 

 in six or seven years. The Short-horn and Hereford, which 

 are the two best breeds for beef in this country and in Old 

 England, have come very near to perfection as far as beef is 

 concerned ; but we have been almost a hundred years in get- 

 ting these, and the time will come when the breeders of those 

 breeds of cattle for beef will connect with them the dairy 

 cow ; and, when you get the perfect dairy cow that is a per- 

 fect model for beef also, you will have the model animal 

 which some future generation in this country, in England, 

 and in other civilized countries, will have. Whenever I have 

 been called upon to say any thing upon this topic, I have en- 

 joined upon all men who are engaged in breeding these pure- 

 bred animals to have in view that idea, — the connection of a 

 perfect dairy cow with a perfect animal for the shambles. 



I am engaged, not so much in the dairy, though I have 

 been in the butter business all my life upon the farm where 

 I live and upon which I was born ; but I am engaged more 

 particularly in fattening cattle, and I want, when my cow is 

 done for the dairy, that she should be a perfect animal for 

 the slaughter, and I would suggest to the breeders of pure- 

 bred stock here, whether they are interested in the Short- 

 horn, or the Hereford, that they have yet to combine the 

 dairy in the same animal. No one with whom I have ever 

 conversed pretends that he has by any system of breeding 



