192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tion. I shall be glad, at the proper time, to answer any 

 questions upon the details of butter-making that I may be 

 able to answer. I shall ask your further indulgence but for 

 a few moments. 



Polled Cattle. 



In years past, papers have been read before this Board to 

 show the merits of pure-bred cattle, and, through lecture or 

 discussion, most of the well-known breeds have had their 

 good points ably presented. But not much has been said in 

 favor of the hornless or polled cattle of any breed. One 

 reason for this probably is, that there have been compara- 

 tively few polled cattle to talk about. Although hornless 

 cattle have been bred for centuries, it was not till within a 

 comparatively recent period that these quiet, peaceful ani- 

 mals came to receive public attention. Whether the original 

 cow carried horns or a smooth poll is a question that can 

 hardly be answered with certainty at this distance from cre- 

 ation. A picture of the Garden of Eden, with the animals 

 all yarded while waiting their turn for a name, would hardly 

 be regarded as authority upon this question. Sure it is that 

 horns are useful weapons of defence upon the heads of wild 

 cattle roaming in forest or on open plains. Horns help 

 sooner to decide the question which of two or more animals 

 is the stronger, and therefore best fitted to survive and per- 

 petuate his kind. Horns, too, from dead animals, are useful 

 in the arts for various purposes, — combs, buttons, etc. But' 

 at this late day, with our useful animals brought under do- 

 mestication, can any one tell of any necessity for retaining 

 the horns if they could readily be disposed of? Who, if they 

 could, would add horns to our horses or our swine ? Who 

 would not be glad to breed out the tusks from the jaws of our 

 domesticated boar? And who but a breeder of fiG^htinsj cocks 

 would not prefer male fowls without spurs ? It has been the 

 aim of modern breeders of swine to breed out just as large 

 a proportion of the less valual)le parts as possible ; and the 

 result is a pig, now, with a nose hardly long enough to ring, 

 a tail too small to hold on by even when not greased, and 

 with almost no bristles at all. The short-horn cattle, which 

 have had more done for their improvement as domestic cat- 



