112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



food consumed, and produce more in proportion to its size ; 

 and he says he has got it, if I understand him right. Am I 

 right in that position ? 



Mr. Ellsworth. You are perfectly. 



Mr. Sessions. I do not believe, from what I have heard 

 said to-day, and from my own experience, that it is impossi- 

 ble for the intelligent farmers of New England to improve 

 their dairy stock. I believe it is a simple matter to improve 

 it. It is not so simple a matter to breed the perfect cow ; 

 but to improve our dairy stock is a simple matter. The 

 directions have been given by Mr. Ellsworth and by others. 

 The point is, that "like produces like." The man who 

 undertakes to raise the Early Rose potatoes from the old- 

 fashioned Jackson Whites is a fool; and any man who at- 

 tempts to raise a good dairy cow from poor grades is just as 

 foolish. The common farmer has an advantage now that he 

 did not have formerly ; for, as one gentleman has said, a pure- 

 bred male of almost any breed can be bought for thirty dol- 

 lars, and by informing yourselves, and taking care in selec- 

 tion, you can obtain the grades you want. I do not know 

 that I have learned any thing particular further than that. 

 There are circumstances which we have all observed, and we 

 have all bred in one or another way. 



Now, my father and myself have been breeding pure-bred 

 Short-horns for the last twenty odd years. The first female 

 we had was a fine butter cow ; and every thing we have on 

 the farm has been bred from her by selection of males from 

 abroad ; and, although we have not got a perfect cow yet, I 

 think we have got along very well indeed, and had we had 

 control of more money, and been able to work faster, we 

 might have accomplished still more. I believe, as I said 

 before, that the lesson of to-day is, that every farmer should 

 try to breed his dairy cows by breeding from like. 



Question. What do you consider a perfect dairy cow ? 



Mr. Sessions. The perfect dairy cow is the best dairy 

 cow you can get. That is the ideal. But, as for any ideal 

 that we can get, men might differ. The point we want to 

 drive at, every one of us, is, the cow that will produce the 

 most and the best : that is the point. The farmer must de- 

 cide for himself what he wants to do with the cow that he 

 feeds. If he wants to make butter, then he must look for 



