148 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



The milkmen select those which give most milk. 

 Mr. Sheldon of Wilmington observed that for 

 years he had bred some of'ihe Durham stock. He 

 had crossed his stock with Ccelebi?, and had hall- 

 bloods. The calves were larger than Irom native 

 bulls. The farmers who are seeking the improve- 

 ment of their Block, are more carelul and liberal 

 in keeping them. Respecting the question ol 

 Mr. Dodge, he said that large cows, waen full- 

 fed, give more milk than small cows ; but when 

 the pastures become dry, they sooner fall away. 

 One reason why tlie cows owned by milkmen are 

 generally larger than oihers, is, that they are kept 

 better. Milkmen like to buy two-years old hei- 

 fers, and the liberal keeping promotes their growth. 

 Mr. Wild of Sturbiidge remarked that large 

 cows would produce more value than small ones, 

 if the keeping be sufficient. If you ieed liiihi, a 

 email breed is to be prelerred ; but you will get 

 more milk from large cows, because they eat 

 more. If not better in quality, it will be more in 

 quantity. In respect to training cattle, he would 

 by all means train them early. If taken after 

 more than a year old, the ditnculty of breaking 

 them would be increased. They must not be 

 whipped. If you have well-managed bojs, they 

 may be trusted with the breaking of steers, but 

 not otherwise. If steers have arrived at two or 

 three years old, and farmers then put a yoke up- 

 on them and let them run, they can never be 

 tamed afterwards. We must not insist upon 

 steers being old oxen- Cattle never get over ear- 

 ly mismanagement. In respect to driving cattle, 

 he objects to much talking. 



Mr. Jaques remarked that the progeny of an 

 animal depends on his form or shape. Cojlebs 

 weighed 229U pounds. A heifer calf was brought 

 to this bull weighing 300 pounds ; hut she experi- 

 enced no difficulty in bringing forth a calf. If the 

 bull has finely tapered limbs, the calf will be 

 good ; if his limbs are large and coarse, the cha- 

 racter of the calf will correspond — have large 

 limbs, and a coarse body. We have had very 

 few of the genuine Durham short-horns in New 

 England. Many of the animals which we have 

 received, as specimens, are as lair samples as it 

 would be of our horses, to send them a five-dollar 

 horse. They would not deem him fit to give to 

 their hounds. 



The true Durhams have broad bosoms, round 

 ribs, flat backs. Our cows appear to have lost a 

 rib. He likes the Durhams and the Herefbrds, 

 but we must have animals suited to our soil and 

 climate. He thinks the farmers should seek ani- 

 mals of a medium size. The Durham short-horns 

 are preferred for the London dairies. (The best 

 cows in the London milk-houses are a cross with 

 the Holderness. — Reporter.') The bull Bolivar 

 was a beautiful animal. But Mr. Jaques had pro- 

 duced a stock which yielded ns much cream as 

 anyone. On light soils, the Ayrshire stock will 

 do well. Mr. Cushing of Watertown is entitled 

 to the hiahest credit, lor his introduction of this 

 stock. With his customary liberality, he has 

 given away twenty-two of these animals. In 

 New England, we must have cows which will 

 produce the most milk, butter and cheese. Mr. 

 Jaques related a story, which he said rested upon 

 good authority, of a Durham cow, tied near Lon- 

 don, with a little girl by her side, to sell the milk 

 as it was drawn, in pints, hall-pinls, &c., and 



that in one day her sales amounted to forty-two 

 quarts. He had seen many good native cows, 

 but we could never be sure of their calves. This 



had been demonstrated, in respect to several very 

 extraorJinarv animals exhibitecPat 



Brighton. The 

 only way to secure a race is to keep the blood 

 pure. The Durhams strongly marked their calves 

 the stronger the strains ol' blood, the more certain- 

 ly we secure the character of ihe stock. We may, 

 with skill in the selection, aflect the color at our 

 pleasure, and by the seventh or ninth generation, 

 accomplish our object. We shall never see a 

 black hair or a black nose on a pure Durham. 

 (It is believed there are exceptions to this re- 

 mark.) A good breeder, when he gets a second 

 cross, goes back, in order to secure the blood. 

 The flesh of an animal must have an elastic touch, 

 hke that of a healthy man, and not like that of a 

 swelled limb, which, when you press it, the in- 

 dentation remains. 



Mr. Colman had not intended to enter upon 

 this discussion, but he lelt it due to his official re- 

 lation to the farmers of Massachusetts, to say 

 that he had had the pleasure of seeing the im- 

 proved Durham stock of the Messrs. Lalhrops cf 

 South-Hadley, and he thought them eminently 

 beautiful, and evincing great skill and care in 

 their management, on the part of those gentle- 

 men. He had seen many of the imported ani- 

 mals throughout the country; and one of the 

 herds imported lor the Ohio Company, which he 

 saw on their way, was truly splendid, and in 

 beauty and perlection of form, far surpassed any 

 thing which he had ever witnessed. 



He must, however, in justice add, that he yet 

 wanted the proof of the Durham short horns 

 being the best stock for our dairies. Seven ol the 

 race which he had owned, some lull and others 

 half-blood, liad been inferior as milkers. The 

 quantity of milk given by many of the animals 

 which he had seen was remarkable ; the quality, 

 in general, inferior ; though he had (bund some 

 exceptions to this remark; but these exceptions, 

 he believed, were accidental. 



The Cheshire larmers, who were as distin- 

 guished as any in the country or in any country 

 lor the produce of their cheese dairies, preferred 

 the native stock. From a dairy of eighteen covvs, 

 an average of 633 pounds new milk cheese to a 

 cow, in a year, had been obtained. He had 

 challenged in writing and conversation the own- 

 ers of the short horns in the country to prove by 

 actual experiment thedairy properties ofthis slock; 

 and he would furnish a list of a hundred covvs 

 of our native stock, which had made from twelve 

 to fourteen pounds of butter per wee'.-, through 

 the season. He was far from having any preju- 

 dices against the improved Durhams. He was 

 an enthusiastic admirer of them ; but he wanted 

 their dairy properties tested by actual experiment. 

 A very distinguished English farmer, Mr. Shirrer, 

 who had n)ade the tour of this country, expressed 

 his regret at their introduction, and pronounced 

 them in his book the poorest dairy stock in Eng- 

 land. We could not be said to have formed any 

 distinct race among ourselves, excepting the trials 

 made by Mr. Jaques, and a long-continued im- 

 provement carried»on in reference to milch cows, 

 in another part of the state, upon which he had 

 reported. Much, undoubtedly, yet remains to be 

 done, but nothing in this respect can be efl'ecled 



