ECONOMY IN SMALL BREEDS. 203 



quiet during milking, if he sat down and attempted to milk 

 them, would manifest the greatest excitement ; and this trouble 

 went through the whole stable of twenty or thirty cows. The 

 result was, that he had to give up feeding those sprouts, and 

 after a month or two his cows became quiet again. The 

 question with me was, whether others had had the same 

 experience. 



Dr. Wakefield, of Monson. I am after a hog that, at 

 nine or twelve months old, will weigh three or four hundred 

 pounds, and be in a good state to fat and kill at a profit. 

 I am breeding thoroughbred Yorkshires, and I have crossed 

 thoroughbred White Chesters with them, and produced, I 

 think, the handsomest swine that I see. I want to know if 

 there is a better cross that will produce hogs that can be 

 fatted at from nine to twelve months old with profit. Can 

 you, Mr. Chairman, or you, Mr. Dillon, or can anybody give 

 me any information that will enable me to get a better hog 

 than that, or one that will at that age produce from three 

 to four hundred pounds of pork, and do it at a profit, any 

 better than the cross between the Yorkshire and the Chester 

 White ? 



Mr. Flint. It strikes me there is one point that might 

 have been brought out a little more distinctly in Mr. Harris's 

 paper, and may be brought out in reply to Dr. Wakefield's 

 question. 



It seems to me, from what I hear among farmers, that it is 

 for the interest of Massachusetts farmers generally to breed 

 the small breeds rather than large. I think the impression 

 among the more intelligent farmers is, that the smaller breeds 

 can be fed with greater economy, and with more satisfactory 

 results, in the main, than the Chester County and the other 

 larger breeds. I merely throw that out as a general principle. 



Dr. Wakefield. I can get lar^e ho^s enough, if I can 

 keep them long enough ; I have no trouble in that direction. 

 •But what I want, as I have said, is a hog that will weigh from 

 three to four hundred pounds, when it is nine or twelve 

 months old. If there is such a breed, that is what I want, in 

 preference to what I have got. 



Adjourned to two o'clock, p.m. 



