MONTHLY 



JOURNAL OF ACtRICULTURE. 



NO. 7. JANUARY, 1846. VOL. I. 



A NEW-YEAR'S OFFERING TO OUR PATRONS. 



IMPORTANT TO ALL OWNERS OF CATTLE. 



A VEKT remarliable discoverj' has been made in France, in a department of rural ludnstry, 

 which, could a word be coined for the occasion, might perhaps most aptly be called Lacteot-OGY, 

 or Cow-OLOGT, as it discloses infallible signs for detenniuing the milkhig properties of Neat Cattle. 



By these external marks, which are described by the author of the work, and illustrated by 

 numerous engravings, now in course oi preparation for the Farmers' Library, it is maintained 

 that one may without fail discover, even in a calf of a few montlis old, whether it will make a 

 good milker, and is, therefore, worthy of being reserved for the dairy ; or, if othei-wise, it should 

 be consigned to the butcher. Strange as may appear such a discovery, and the establishment of 

 an infallible system based upon it, it yet seems to have been in very many cases subjected to the 

 severest test, by committees of men of the highest character in France, appointed by and belong- 

 ing to the agricultural section of the Academy of Sciences, who have certified in the most une- 

 quivocal manner to the truth and great value of the discovery. The testimony of scientific men 

 of that grade and association, in France, it need not be added, challenges universally, public re- 

 spect and confidence. We consider ourselves fortunate in being, by a lucky chance, made the 

 medium of first proclaiming this French discovery to English readers ; and, moreover, feel justi- 

 fied in referring to it as another proof that, acting under the instruction of liberal Publishers, no 

 tro'ihle or expense will be allowed to stand in the way of our fulfilment of all the promises witb 

 which the Farmers' Library was offered to the patronage of American Agriculturists. 



While waiting for the illustrations, in the hands of the engraver, and which will be numerous 

 and costly, we offer here the " Preface of the Translator," N. P. Trist, Esq. of the State 

 Department, a gentleman well known, and wherever known respected, for high character, learn- 

 ing and discernment ; and who, previously to his acceptance of the office he so well fills, had 

 been in a position which led him to give much attention to such subjects. 



It has so happened in corroboration of all that is said in relation to tliis extraordinary discovery, 

 that since writing so far, we find it particularly noticed in a late number of the "Journal d' Agri- 

 culture Pratique et de Jardinage," sent to our PublLshers by Doctor Lardner, now in Pasis. 



Some extracts from that notice on the spot where the theory has been promulgated, may serve 

 to rivet still stronger the attention of the readev : 



" Monsieur Guenon, a fanner of Liboumc, having discovered an infallible method of ascertain- 

 ing the lactiferous properties of cows, by means of certain invariable signs, easily to be fomid on 

 these animals, invited a rigid investigation of his theory, by the Agricultural Society of TouJouse. 

 A committee was accordingly appointed by that Society, who reported : 



" We conducted Mr. Guenon into seven cow-stables with whicli he was entirely unacquainted. 

 Here forty-six cows were submitted to his inspection. In twenty-two instances he named the 

 exact number of pints given by each cow ; in fourteen he came within a pint, and in ten within 

 two or three pints. 



" Exact precision as to number of pints, however, is deemed as of little importance, as the quan- 

 tity of milk is liable to vary, with many circumstances, as food, temperature, date of calving, Sec. 

 Rut the main fact of the discovery we consider as established, as Monsieur Guenon invariably 

 distinguishes the good from the bad milkers. 

 (689) 



