150 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



The Chinese breed had likewise been repeat- 

 edly introduced into the country directly irom 

 China. Mr. Cushing, of Wateriown, had now 

 Bome animals of the pure blood. The pure-blood 

 slock was not large enough (or our purposes ; but 

 the cross with this breed had always been advan- 

 tageous ; and Mr. Colman believed the Chinese 

 breed to be the foundation of the best improve- 

 ments in this country and in England. 



Mr. Colman considered the faiting of pork of 

 great importance to New England. We could 

 not raise pigs in this vicinity to advantage; cer- 

 tainly not to the same advantage as where pas- 

 turing is cheap, and the wash of the dairy abund- 

 ant ; but they might be raised with much profit 

 in the interior, and latted here. Mr. Colman was 

 satisfied, from considerable experience, that when 

 corn is seventy cents a bushel, and pork will bring 

 in the market six cents a pound, or six dollars per 

 hundred, pork may be fatted to a profit. Hogs 

 are particularly valuable to the farmer, on account 

 of the large amount of manure which they may 

 be made to furnish. If well supplied with the 

 raw material, a hog may be expected to produce 

 ten loads of good compost manure per year. 



Mr. Colman expressed his unvvillinffness to go 

 further in the discussion; his only object being to 

 introduce the subject to ihe meetins: and he 

 should therelbre cheerfully leave the field to others. 



Mr. Jaques now proceeded to speak of the 

 points to be regarded in the selecion of a horse. 

 in choosing a horse for a roadster or traveller, he 

 wished to have a light head neatly put on ; the 

 neck rising promptly and strong Irom ihe shoul- 

 ders and withers ; the neck somewhat crownino; 

 or curving on the top and tapering towards the 

 head, with a strong crest. The shoulders should 

 be well laid in, spreading well back, somewhat like 

 a shoulder of mutton. He would have the chest 

 deep and slightly projecting; the withers risina 

 moderately high, and mciiriing well into the back. 



If the withers are low and flat on the top, the 

 horse will be inclined to plunge to the ijround ; 

 and when fa'igued will stumble or fall. Ijut the 

 withers must not rise too hitrh, as he will then 

 appear as though on stilts. Either extreme is an 

 impediment to free and sale action. He should 

 have ribs rounding well out ; back short, straight 

 and well coupled, that is, the hips thrown forward, 

 forming a strong loin, and a long lever from the 

 point of the hip to the hock joint of the hind leg. 

 The horse should be of good'length fromthe point 

 of the shoulder to the extreme of the buttock. He 

 should have a strong and bushy dock, and be close 

 and snug under the dock ; for if he be large and 

 loose there, he will be apt to scour and be fit only 

 for a door-yard horse. He should be full in the 

 twist, that is, the inner part of the thighs should 

 be well shut together. The head, neck, and body 

 form a lever, resting on the fore legs as a fulcrum'- 

 the head being at the end of the lever. If the 

 neck be very long and the head heavy, or the neck 

 quite short and light, either extreme will impede 

 hie action. The whole of the machine should be 

 well-proportioned. Much depends on the shoul- 



from his Porcellian Seminary fifteen hogs, whose ave- 

 rage weight was 531 lbs. One of them weighed 728 

 lbs. As things go, they were every one of them 

 entitled to a doctor's diploma. 



ders being well-placed. The length and size of 

 the lore-arm, is a very important point. He must 

 have a full rnuscle on the arm, and the shank- 

 hone, below the knee, should be short, broad and 

 flat. Wiien the rider is mounted, h« should be 

 thrown back upon the haunches of the horse. 

 The legs should be clean and free from blemish ; 

 and when in motion move true, and tree from 

 cutting or " wabbling." The feet should be round 

 and steep ; the heels broad ; the coronet and pas- 

 terns of medium length. Mr. Jaques wishes ta 

 see distinctly the cords in the limbs. The knee 

 should be large and well-dropped down ; the arm 

 above the knee long, and the muscles large and 

 full. The tops of the shoulders, where matched 

 to the withers, should not be so heavily loaded with 

 muscle as to impede their action. He does not 

 object to have the fore-feet move closely to each 

 other; but not so ao" to interfere. Much depends 

 on the (brm of the hind leg and the power of the 

 lever, as regards strength and speed. The shank, 

 hock and thiwh should be broad and flat, resem- 

 bling that of an ox ; if so, when in motion they will 

 operate like a plank sprung edgewise and then 

 let fly. He has no objection when the horse is at 

 good speed, to have the hind legs open and spread 

 a little, if ther<^ is a free action in the hock-joint. 

 The necks of many horses appear to be wrong 

 side up. He would choose to have him filteen and 

 a half hands high, and to weiah a thousand pounds. 



He went on to say that he considered nothing 

 more valuable than a good cov/, which would give 

 eighteen quarts of milk per day, and fourteen 

 pounds of butter per week. He thought it neces- 

 sary to establish a breed for New England, Be 

 deemed it important to import Ibreign slock, of 

 established blood. Fine individual cows among 

 us, which produce much milk and butter, ar© 

 often the progeny of a mean stock, and there 

 is therefore no certainly of perpetuating their 

 good qualities. Farmers pay little attention to 

 the character of their bulls, and are always ready 

 to sell their best calves to the butcher, 



Mr. Jaques had not had an extensive experi^ 

 ence with swine. He disapproved of the system 

 of breeding in and in ; and yet there were facte in 

 relation to this matter, which strongly conflicted 

 with the general theories. 



He spoke, again, with much emphasis, of the 

 value of sheep; and especially of the adapled- 

 ness of the South Dawn to our wants. His own 

 flock was excellent. Their average yield of wool 

 was f()ur pounds to a fleece. He iiad one wether, 

 which standing, weighed 219 pounds, and for the 

 meat of which he received twenty dollars. 



Mr. French of Braintree inquires of Mr. Jaques 

 how much tnilk his cows would averai^e per 

 day 1 



Mr. Jaques has made no record of this. His 

 object has been to raise stock, and not quantity of 

 milk. Some of his cows now give twelve quarts 

 per day. The greatest quantity he has ever ob- 

 tained is twenty-one quarts per day. He can pro- 

 duce a flush of milk by corn and roots; but it 

 has been his object to raise his stock upon grass 

 and hay, so that when sold, they might thrive 

 upon other keeping, and not fall away. It is 

 often said that the keep determines the quantity of 

 milk. Milkmen can answer this question. 



Mr. Cole remarked, that much had been said 

 upon breeding stock, but no great principles had 



