82 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[Oct. 7, 



two of them— lor Vaiighan's animal was a cow, I chased from the back co-jiilies) to Great-Britain, 

 and her calf llr Gore's bull."'— I further ask m3 1 they might challenge all the three kingdoms to 

 friend— "were not the dams of Governor Lin- '; compete with them m all the vnrioiis [)0,nts ol 

 coin's half-breeds by Denton, prime cows, for i labour to which cattle are aj plicable." The 

 - - "^- ' • ---tile, we 



size and milk ; and was it not a rule with the 

 farmers who carried any cows to Denton, to se- 

 lect the best in their power?"' 



" In answer (says my friend) to your inquiry 

 respecting the origin of the long train of fine 

 oxen in the yoke, from Shrewsbury and Sutton, 



committee add — " These working ca 

 knozv, are as much superior to theirs, p.s our stock 

 is inferior to theirs in the articles of bulls, cows, 

 sheep and hogs." 



In the same volume, p. 239, the Committee 

 for 1822, of which also Mr Lowell was chair 



exhibited at our Shows at Worcester, 1 can truly man, again acknowledging the superiority ol 

 say, that i viewed them witli much interest, and 

 examined the best of them with respect to their 

 form, proportion, and obvious capacity for la- 

 bour ; and indulged in the exultation that so im- 

 posing a spectacle was t'urnished from the im- 

 proved native breed of the county of Worcester. 

 If any were mixed with nny forei'^n I'amilies, my 

 eye was not sufficiently practised to detect it. — 

 In reference to the Sutton teams my gratifica- 

 tion was much increased by the remark of a gen- 

 tleman who had been conversant will) the tine 



British bulls, say — " Wherever a pride is I'e.t in 

 raising fine stock, our success is perfect; and 

 the single town of Sutlon mia:ht send its team of 

 120 oxen, and challenge Devonshire, or any 

 other county of Great Britain, to trials of strength 

 or activity." 



On these statements 1 may be permiliod to 

 ask, what must have been the charuciers of the 

 nali-jc bulls and native cozvs, that produced such 

 superior oxen? And if from their native bulls 

 and cows, the farmers of the single township ol 



cattle of England — That he had seen some us good , Si^Uon could produce such a team of 120 oxen. 



there, but doubted whether so many of an equal 

 quality could be collected in any corresponding sec- 

 tion of that country. The farmers in Sutton take 

 pride in their native slock ; and believe that an 

 attempt to improve it [by foreign crosses, my 

 friend must mean] would result in a disappoint- 

 ment." 



" Yon ask whether the daras of Governor 

 Lincoln's half-breeds by Denton, were not prime 

 cows for size and milk ? they ivere. Great care 

 was also taken by farmers to send cows of this 

 description ; and many of our best were pur- 

 chased by Mr Williams for breeders." 



These answers were such as I had anticipat- 

 ed : and I am now led to ask, whether, in esti- 

 mating the value of the half-breeds from the im- 

 proved shorl-horn cross, every thing that is ex- 

 cellent in them has not been improperly ascrib- 



was it too much for me to presume, that every 

 other farming towR=liip in Massachusolts, and 

 throughout New England, is now in (inssession 

 of at least one or two bulls and cows of like ex- 

 cellence? and is there not in every such town- 

 ship at least one substantial farmer of spirit and 

 enterprise sufficient to engage in the work of im- 

 provement, which would result in his individual 

 profit and public utility ? — We may at least con- 

 fidently hope and ex|)ect, that the present gen- 

 eral excitement will soon supply them where 

 they are now wanting. 



Some English writers mention the unfortunate 

 eagerness with which opulent landholders have 

 occasionally' attempted to improve their [i.uiicu- 

 lar breeds of cattle, bv crosses with fashionable 

 breeds of public reputation — Marshall stales (his 

 in respect to the hornle-s Galloways of Scotland; 



ed to the short-horn bulls ? These half-breed*, s ime of which he pronounced to have been adul- 

 too, from their birth, are nursed with peculiar . «era(erf by crossing willi a long horned breed. — 

 Care. They are allowed to suck their dams for j He remarks that '•this species of adultery is 

 at least six months (1 think Mr Vv'illiams once! said to be comniiUed and encouraged liy the no- 

 told me that was his practice) and after that, are | bilily and landed gentlemen of the countries they 

 Supplied with very nourishing food, kept very i are bred in ; but the fact appears to be, that 

 clean,* and in every thing lenrled with a care ihey have already one of the linest breed of cat- 

 rarely if ever practised towards our native j tie in the world upon their estates; and it be- 

 breed. This will account for their early rapid hoves them to hand it down to posterity as pure 



growth, and in part for their superiorsizo. — But 

 if the milk of the improved short horned half 



at least as they received if. In this age of im- 

 provement, it might be laudable to endeavour to 



breeds be really rich, is this quality derived : improve it to the utmost; not however by for- 

 from the English sire, or from ihi2 selected native] e'\o;n admixtures; but by giving the most beauti- 

 dams ? 1 am inclined to t!>iuk chiefly from the 1 ful females to the most beautiful males of their 

 latter. i own breed. They appear to me to have much 



In the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, j to lose, but nothing to gain from crossing, — not 

 are interesting reports by Committees on Live ! even ivith the present long horned breed [Bake- 



Slock. In vol. \'ll. p. 2o the Committee for 

 1821, of which I\Ir Lowell was chairman, — after 

 mentioning the general character of our best 

 sliows, as evidently inferior, when com[iared 

 with some of the cattle shows in England, — nev- 

 ertheless, express their " belief, that if we could 

 transport the best %i>orking cattle of Worcester 

 and Norfolk (the latter however being all pur- 



* It was a striking observalioo niude to me, above 

 forty years ago, by an intelligtnt furni-labourer, con- 

 Ci-rning a domestic animal — '• !l he is not cleaned he 

 ■wont h^' comforlabli\ and if he is nnt comforlabU, hi; 

 wont Ihrire." — Ilow iincoml'ort,ible are our rattle, and 

 how much do Ihuy sufftT, in winter, lird up in cramp- 

 ud stalls, and having tiicir hind qciarlcis plastered thick 

 ■wtlh dun;,', IVom which they are not nlieved tiU thov 

 shed their old coats of hair in the spring I 



well's] of the Midland counties."* And he thus 

 <lescribes this breed " Galloway cattle are large, 

 (hick, short legged, mostly hornless, and of a 

 black or brindled colour; the flesh well grain- 

 ed ; and the form altOEfether beautil"ul ; chine 

 full; back broad and lev<d ; quarter long and 

 lull to Ihenacho ; round barrel; deP|i girt; and 

 the bone, head and chap, in general fine.'"! 



The Complete Grazier says '' The Galloway 

 is a most excellent and hardv breed, fattening- 

 kindly on Ihe best parts ; the flesh is fine gram- 

 cd and well mixed with fat; the oxen are well 

 calculated t"or tiraught." — " The flesh zi'ell inixed 

 withfat,^'' is the most desirable quality In liecf ; 



incomparably superior to that of " talloreing 

 withi;! in the first degree,"' — one of the charac- 

 teristicks of the improved short-horns. — Culley 

 also, says Ihe Galloways, that " like the best 

 feeduig kind of the long-horns, they lay their 

 fat u[ion the most valuable parts, and their beef 

 is \we\\ marbled or mixed with fat." A^^ain Cul- 

 ley sriys — " Few or no cattle sell so high in 

 Smithfield [the London] ni.irket,from their being 

 such vice cutters up, ounng to their laying theirfat 

 uj)o:i the most valuable parts.'''' Further he says 

 '• The oxen and spayed heifers anszver ■n'ell for 

 the draughts ; which certainly adds lo the value 

 of this excellent breed.'' — Furlher still, Culley 

 says he has been inlbrmed on good authority, 

 '"■that the polled cows [the Galloway breed of 

 which he was treating] are very good milkers, 

 in proportion to their size, and the milk of a 

 rich q\iality, yielding much more bulter, from ;i 

 given quantity of milk, than Ihe short-horns." — 

 These cattle, generally polled, or hornless, Cul- 

 ley says, " weigh [meaning when fallened] from 

 40 lo CO stone [560 lo 840 pound'] and some 

 parlicular ones reach 70 siones" [9C0 lbs. J that 

 is, Ihe carcass, or four quarters of beef are of 

 those weights.* 



Thus, in all respects, (he Galloway breed of 

 cattle appears to mo better adapted to the vari- 

 ous uses of New England farmers, !han any other 

 breed of which 1 have ever seen a description. 

 And were I in a condition to become a breeder 

 of callle, I would import the Galloways, and in 

 such numbers as to insure a fair and full expeii- 

 nenl, and to lay Ihe foundation of a speedy pro- 

 pagation of the breed. By their means 1 would 

 lory willingly reduce the size, or get entirely 

 cid, of Ihe horns of our native breed ; to a use- 

 ful, and, in point of size, a natural and easy 

 iross with which, the Galloways appear lo me 

 to be peculiarly adapted. 



I recollect, that a few years since, after some 

 researrh, to ascertain, Ihe characters of differ- 

 ent breeds of callle in Great Britain, I recom- 

 mended Ihe G.illoway breed, as well worth im- 

 porting, to Mr Skinner, Editor of ihe American 

 Farmei' ; in consequence of his requesting my 

 opinion on the subject ol Ihe then conlcmplaled 

 importations, for which funds h:id been liberal- 

 ly [ilaced at his disposal. 



In my 4th letter 1 gave an account of Mr Prin- 

 cep's cow, a superior variety ofllie long-horned 

 breed rising 3ye.irs old, which, discovering an ex- 

 traordinary disposition to fatten, Ihey ceased lo 

 inilk, and put her on prime keep for 8 months, 

 when she was slaughtered. She cut six inches 

 of fat on the chine, and weighed, each fore quar- 

 ter 3G1 lbs. one hind quarter ?74 lbs. and the 

 other 372 lbs. total 1468 pounds of beef. 



I have met with a similar insiance in the Gal- 

 loway breed. It is in Ihe 32d volume of Young's 

 Annals of Agricullure, p. 314. It is the descrip- 

 tion of a heifer four years old, communicated to 

 him by Ihe owner; who slates that " she was al- 

 lowed to have the most flesh and fat upon the 

 ' least bone that ever yet was seen." — Having 

 thereon an extraordinary jiropensily lo fatten, 

 [she was put on keep snited lo that propensity ; 

 land was killed in December 1790. When first 

 !(iul to /eerftri!;, it was supposed, from her size, 

 ilhHtshe could not have fallened to more than 

 46 or 48 stone [G 44 or C"2 lbs.] But her car- 

 cass, or iiinr quarters, weighed 76 slone and 7 



* Rural Economy of Norfolk, vol. I. p.y41. t p. 3-10, 



* llees' Cycloptdia, Article Cattle. 



