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milk, besides supplying a family of three persons with what 

 milk and butter were required, sold in one season from her two 

 cows, four hundred lbs. of butter. The feed was grass only. 

 In June she made in one week, twenty-three lbs. ; in one week, 

 twenty-five lbs. ; in one week, twenty-eight lbs. These were 

 cows of native stock, and this amount does not include the 

 butter packed for the winter use of the family. 



I cite these examples of cows remarkable for their produc- 

 tiveness, perfectly aware that no reliance can be placed upon 

 such accidental individuals for the propagation of a superior 

 race. The calves of such animals, according to our careless 

 management of these matters, may be good or otherwise. The 

 chance is certainly in favor of their proving well when descend- 

 ed from a good cow ,* but no confidence can be placed in the 

 perpetuation of the good qualities of the parents in their prog- 

 eny, unless by a careful selection on both sides and a judicious 

 crossing, pursued systematically for a length of time with a 

 view to particular and desired improvements. Under such a 

 system, we may do something towards reversing the old prov- 

 erb, that a good cow may have a bad calf. As yet, however, 

 no approaches towards such a result can be said to have been 

 made in this county. The county, indeed, can hardly be con- 

 sidered to any great extent as a stock-raising county. 



/ 3. Stall-fed Cattle. — The fatters of beef depend, for their 

 cattle to be stall-fed, upon animals brought from Vermont, New 

 Hampshire, and New York. In these cases the experienced 

 and practical have great skill and shrewdness in selecting 

 small-boned, neat, and thrifty animals as the best for their pur- 

 poses. Many of them find great advantage "in turning their 

 cattle soon," rather than keeping them on hand a long time. 

 After graduating a class early in the season, they go into the 

 neighboring hill-towns and purchase fat cattle already far 

 advanced for the market, and finish them so as to have another 

 class to send off in the spring. These cattle are generally fed 

 upon hay and potatoes in the hill-towns, where corn is not 



