192 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



"The heail of the male animal is short, but at the same time fine; very broad across the 

 eyes, but gnidually tapering to the nose, the nostril of which is full unci prominent; the node 

 itself of a rich ik'sh-color, neither too light nor dark ; eyes bright and phicid, with ears some- 

 what huge and thin. The head, crowned with a curved and soniewlmt ilat horn, is well set 

 (.m to a lengthy, broad, muscular neck ; the chest wide, deep, and projecting; shoulders fine, 

 ublicjue, and well formed into the chine; fore legs short, with the upjjer arm large and power- 

 ful ; barrel round, deep, and well ribbed up towards the loins and hips, which should be wide 

 aud level ; back straight from the withers to the setting on of the tail, but still short — that is, 

 from hij) to chine — the opinion of many good judges being that a beast should have a short 

 back with a long frame." 



The idea is somewhat prevalont that short horn coavs are not good milkers. 

 It has been oLtained, without doubt, from tlie fact of the well known eflforts 

 made to perfect their fattening qualities, in accordance with Bakewell's saying 

 that "all was useless that was not beef;" and it is true of many families of 

 thort horns. Others are superior milkers. The original Holstein blood of the 

 Durham and Holderness districts was famous for its milking quality, aud it is 

 difficult to breed it out with all the culture which modern improved short horns 

 have received. The modem Holderness stock at this day chiefly supplies the 

 London dairies, and many of their best milkers have strong strains of the im- 

 proved blood. The Duchess stock, of great celebrity and pin-ity, bred by Mr. 

 Bates, was distinguished for its excellence in this respect. Some short horns 

 in this country have yielded ample supplies of milk of excellent quality. J. H. 

 Powel, of Pennsylvania, once claimed to have obtained from an imported short 

 horn 28 quarts of milk, which yielded at the rate of 20J pounds of butter per 

 week. It will be found true that the short horn, for the production either of 

 meat or milk, is eminently fitted, and may be made pre-eminently so with a 

 careful selection in either direction, 



THE THORNDALE STOCK. 



The strange and noteworthy fact that an American breeder has shipped to 

 admiring purchasers in England the descendants of former importations is a 

 sufficient apology for allusion here to a single herd of American short horns — 

 that of Samuel Thorne, of Thorndale, New York. Notwithstanding the pro- 

 fessional pride of the English breeder, and a tenacious adhesion to his favorable 

 opinion of English superiority in cattle growing, these animals have given the 

 greatest satisfaction and received the highest commendation from the best 

 judges of that country. The singularity of the circumstance is lessened in 

 view of the fact that Mr. Thorne has culled from the best herds in England, 

 and boitght those of Messrs. Morris and Becar, of New York, to add to his 

 own, and with these combined herds has surmounted all obstacles, in feeding 

 and climate, through the exercise of untiring care and judicious effort. The 

 ups and downs of the business of breeding here, the quickly alternating fluctu- 

 ations in price, have given fine opportunities for shrewd Englishmen to come 

 over and pick off some of the best of our stock, to the great detriment of our 

 future in stock improvement. It will be many years yet before our native 

 cattle throughout the country shall be generally modified and movilded into an 

 improved stock, through the influence of pure blood of the best foreign breeds ; 

 and the time has not yet arrived when a drop of it can be spared. And it is to 

 be hoped that some American Bakewell or Colling may arise, and do for our 

 "native" cattle — certainly they have been bred long enough here to have ac- 

 quired American characteristics — what they did for the long horns and short 

 horns of England ; but such a work cannot be expected till we have made a 

 further and more universal advance in the direction of improvement in our 

 horned cattle. Colonel Jaques, of Ten Hills farm, near Boston, Massachusetts, 

 conducted, for several years, experiments of this nature with great success, and 

 it is much to be regretted that they were not continued after his death. The 

 following is a notice of the shipment made by Mr. Thorne in May, 18G1, from 

 the London Agricidtural (iazette : 



