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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



A HERES'ORD HEIEER. 



There is a considerable portion of the business of 

 the farmer as much unlike the mere cultivation of 

 the soil, as that of the mechanic, or any of the pro- 

 fessions. He ought to understand keeping accounts, 

 and purchasing and selling, for of the last two he 

 has a good deal to do. His business is partly mer- 

 cantile. The farmers, in any of our country towns, 

 buy and sell to many times the amount of the 

 stbre-keepers each year, and it becomes them as 

 much to understand, thoroughly, the articles in 

 which they deal, as for the store-keeper to be well 

 acquainted with the cloths and silks, and sugars and 

 other goods which he purchases. 



It is with this view that we sometimes give illus- 

 trations of animals or implements, that have not 

 been thoroughly tested, and are not well known 

 and established. 



Every farmer should know something of all the 

 breeds of cattle that have been introduced into this 

 country, so much, at least, as to be able to detect 

 a leading blood in any animal that is placed before 

 him. Then, when he learns the growing, fattening 

 and other productive qualities of each, he is in pos-' 

 session of enough of that mercantile knowledge of 



which we have spoken, to enable him to trade ad- 

 vantageously in any of them. 



The Heifer, pictured above, is the property of 

 Charles B. Clark, Esq., of Concord, Mass., and 

 took the second prize at the U. S. Cattle Show at 

 Boston last autumn. Below we give the opinions 

 of some distinguished breeders. 



The Hereford oxen are considerably larger than 

 the North Devons. They are usually of a darker 

 red ; some of them are brown, and even yellow, 

 and a few are brindled ; but they are principally 

 distinguished by their white faces, throats, and bel- 

 lies. In a few, the white extends to the shoulders. 

 The old Herefords were brown or red-brown, with 

 not a spot of white about them. It is only within 

 the last fifty or sixty years that it has been the fash- 

 ion to breed for white faces. Whatever may be 

 thought of the change of color, the present bi-eed 

 is certainly far superior to the old one. The hide 

 is considerably thicker than that of the Devon, and 

 the beasts are more hardy. Compared with the 

 Devons, they are shorter in the leg, and also in the 

 carcass ; higher, and broader, and heavier in the 

 chine ; rounder and wider across the hips, and bet- 

 ter covered with fat ; the thigh fuller and more 

 muscular, and the shoulders larger and coarser. 



They are not now much used for husbandry, 



