IMPROVED DAIRY STOCK. 175 



I quote the following from the journal of the Royal Agri 

 cultural Society, as a mark of deep significance to American 

 farmers, beyond its proof of the value of bones: &quot;Before 

 bones came into use in this country, the farmers made a point 

 of selecting a hardy and inferior description of stock for their 

 clay lands, farmers finding that large, well-bred cows did not at 

 all answer upon them; but now they find &quot; (in improved pas 

 ture) &quot; that the best of stock find ample support, not only to 

 supply the cheese-tub freely, but also to do justice to their 

 lineage, by retaining, if not improving, their size and symme 

 try, so that the farmer has not only the advantage of making 

 considerably more cheese, but also of making more money by 

 his turn of stock.&quot; 



I cannot now ascertain the amount of bones annually ex 

 ported from the United States to England, but it must be 

 very great, as I know one bone-miller, near New York, that 

 has a standing order to ship all he can furnish at a certain price, 

 and who last year thus disposed of 80,000 bushels. 



Breeds of Dairy Stock. I have already described most of 

 the dairy stock that we have observed along the road. We 

 have seen scarcely any pure bred stock of any kind. Ayr 

 shire blood seems to predominate and be most in favour on 

 the best farms. The points of the short-horns are also common, 

 and in the south we saw some Herefords. The best milkers 

 seemed to be a mixed blood of Ayrshires and some other 

 large and long-horned cattle with a smaller red and black 

 breed, probably Welsh. I incline to think that experience 

 has taught the dairy-men to prefer half or quarter bred stock 

 to full bloods of any breed. For beef-making it is otherwise. 

 I have seen no working oxen. Horses are the only beasts of 

 draught on the farms ; they vary greatly in quality, but are 

 generally stout, heavy, hardy, and very powerful. On a farm 

 of one hundred acres, three will be kept, sometimes four, and 



