106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



his idea as to the form, structure, what may be called the 

 " make-up " of a dairy cow. The farmers of New England 

 have a sort of ideal in their minds as to the form and struc- 

 ture ; but those of us who have seen the different breeds 

 know that some races of dairy stock, like the Swiss, for in- 

 stance, are large-boned, coarse animals in some cases, and yet 

 they have the reputation of being very good and very large 

 milkers. Mr. Ellsworth has made very careful observations 

 in regard to the nice points of a first-class dairy cow, and I 

 would like to have him state to the audience what his ideal 

 of the form and structure of a dairy cow is. 



Mr. Ellsworth. I should prefer a medium sized cow, no 

 matter of what breed. I would not have a large, overgrown 

 one ; I would not have an underling. I want to have her 

 light forward, and run out heavy behind if possible, with a 

 good sized barrel to carry her feed. I want to have a small, 

 clean neck, and nice fine limbs and tail. Allusion has been 

 made to the Swiss cows as remarkable milkers and butter- 

 makers. The very look of them is enough for me. See the 

 bone that it takes to carry them ! I do not want that heavy- 

 boned animal for either milk, butter, cheese, or meat. It is 

 an overgrown, clumsy animal. I have no doubt, from the 

 fact that I have known how much Indian meal has been fed 

 to them where they have been making this nice butter, that 

 a Swiss cow fed with six, eight, or ten quarts of Indian meal, 

 will make a great deal of good butter, and she ought to, and 

 make flesh at the same time. A cow that is fed in that way 

 is not a good cow, if she will not make flesh. Does that 

 answer the question ? 



Mr. Flint. Yes, in the main. The form of Swiss cattle, 

 as I have seen them in this country, seems to be an anomaly, 

 and entirely to contradict our ordinary notions of the size 

 and structure of the dairy cow. 



Mr. Ellsworth. The breeds that we have almost exclu- 

 sively in Massachusetts are of medium size, small consumers, 

 and large producers. We can afford to keep such cows ; but 

 in Massachusetts we cannot afford to keep a very heavy 

 feeder and large-boned animal for dairy purposes. It would 

 be foolish for me to undertake to keep those large Swiss or 

 large Dutch cows for what I want. The kind of cows that 

 I keep make good beef, good veal, good butter, good cheese, 



