SIGNS OF QUALITY. 123 



pounds, what may we not hope may be produced in the fu- 

 ture ? I believe, as Dr. Wakefield has said, that the time will 

 come, when, in New England even, the cows will average 

 four hundred pounds of butter a year. I believe it can be 

 done. If the Oakes cow, and these other cows that have 

 been mentioned, have done it, why may not the race of cows 

 do it, when we have bred cattle for that purpose, as Colling, 

 Bates, and others, bred them for beef? And then, as Dr.. 

 Wakefield has said, we can go on improving our animals ; 

 and ultimately the time will come when we shall have the 

 perfect beef animal, the perfect milk animal, and the perfect 

 butter animal combined in one. 



Mr. J. D. W. French (of North Andover). Mr. Chair- 

 man, we should not confound characteristics of breed with 

 signs of quality. The Swiss cows have been bred for a long 

 series of years for the dairy ; and yet they have large bones, 

 heavy shoulders, thick necks, large heads and horns. These 

 are characteristics of the breed, and not signs of quality. If 

 these same points were seen in the A}Tshire, Jersey, and 

 Short-horn, they would indicate bad quality, as it is well 

 known they are not characteristics of these breeds. How 

 can we account for these peculiar characteristics of the Swiss 

 dairy breed ? The answer is simply this : The Swiss breed 

 comes from a mountainous country, where, during the pas- 

 turage season, the cows must find their subsistence on the 

 steep mountain-sides : consequently, they must have larger 

 bones, and be of a stronger structure, than breeds raised upon 

 the plains. It is to be supposed that the Swiss cattle in this 

 country will, after a few generations, begin to change some- 

 what their characteristics, and conform more in shape to the 

 typical dairy cow. Indeed, Mr. Roberts has already stated 

 that his Swiss cow raised in this country was not of a re- 

 markably heavy structure, and was less heavy in build than 

 many others of the breed. 



Adjourned to two o'clock. 



Afternoon Session. 

 The Chairman called the meeting to order at two o'clock, 

 and introduced Capt. H. E. Alvord of Easthampton, who 

 read the following paper : — 



