BREEDING FOR SPECIAL OBJECTS. 51 



breeds than the two alluded to. I am in favor of all breeds of 

 cattle upon the farm, just as the chairman has said. I do not 

 believe that the growing of beef, in the State of Massachusetts 

 especially, is of any advantage to the farmer generally. The 

 subject was brought into the Board of Agriculture a few years 

 ago, and a committee appointed, who investigated the matter for 

 a whole year ; and the result of their investigation was, that it 

 cost about $29 to bring a heifer to three years old, and she 

 would sell for $29.50. They proved by facts obtained through- 

 out the Commonwealth that a steer, at three years old, cost 

 about $48, on the average, and would bring about $49. Now, 

 if these are facts, in reference to the production of beef in this 

 Commonwealth, what is the use of our always bearing testimony 

 to the value of a breed of animals that is good for beef purposes^ 

 when we want them for dairy purposes ? As the chairman has 

 said, we want one kind of animals for one branch of the dairy 

 business, and another kind for another branch ; one set of animals 

 for one locality, and another for another locality. Every farmer 

 should try to ascertain what his farm is adapted to produce. If 

 a manufacturer were going to produce carpets or woollen goods, 

 he certainly would not put in cotton machinery. 



The first thing I attempted to do, to fit my farm to make a 

 profitable income upon it, was to ascertain what kind of stock 

 would produce what I wanted to produce to the best advantage, 

 — that was butter, the whole year round. Then I wanted to 

 produce the crops that would feed those animals and produce 

 the greatest results in the line of manufacture which I wanted 

 to get from them ; these were hay and roots. I first experi- 

 mented with one cow that I had always had. Then I tried a 

 Jersey cow, three years old, and I had 336 pounds of butter in 

 one year. Last year, I had from three Jersey cows 906 pounds 

 3 ounces of butter. This year, my man at the farm, or his 

 wife, has produced 14 pounds of butter a week, and even up to 

 16 pounds, from one cow. Twenty-one pounds were put up 

 from two cows in one week, in the month of November, and 

 they furnished milk for three families and butter for two fami- 

 lies besides ; so that it was really raising 28 pounds of butter in 

 a week from two cows, in the month of November. Those 

 cows stand in my barn to-day. I do not find that they eat more 

 than common cows. I feed them upon roots and hay, and let 



