232 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Oc 



T. 



Tmnftrtntirn nf flattl*> and Ayrshires, sa\iiig nothing of the numerous and wide - 



iju^uiia\.ii « ui va .n - . ^^^^.^^^j £,^^11^018, "and the choice breeds of Hercforda scat- 



Few men have had advantages equal to those : terod over the country. 



enioyed by the Editor of the American Agricul- ! Wr-Patterson of Maryland, has a herd of pure Devons, 



•*. •' ,•' ,, • ^ 1 -.1 ^1 1 1 ; the originals of whicli were imported upwards of thirty years 



turist to become well acquamted with the whole .,„„, from the best herds in England. These he has contin- 



SUbjeCt of cattle and cattle breeding, both in this ned to breed vsith great success ever since, improving their 



country and Europe. He ( xnrcsses very clearly 1 1*'"";! Y"\' ''"""""^J/resh importations wlienev^er it could 



-' 1 . . r 1111 be of the least advantage for him to do so. His herd num- 



and ably our own views in regard to the bad pol- bers more ilmn one hundred, all thorough bred, and w^e be- 



icy of sending constantly abroad, and depending lieve as good animals as England can produce. He raises 



on foreign nations, for our choice domestic ani- "!i">; ^^!"1"''"!!,^'!^' l!'lTr^'l^^^^^^^ 



reign 



mals. We have the materials, and the capacity 

 to supply ourselves with neat cattle equal to any 

 in the world. And it is due to the character of 

 American Agriculture that the capital, skill, and 

 enterprise, already embarked in the laudable 

 work of improving our domestic animals, should 

 be sustained. It is only by encouraging home 

 industry in this matter that our farmers generally 

 can learn the art and science of good breeding. 

 Without this knowledge all high bred animals 

 must deteriorate in our hands, and the races soon 

 lose their peculiar excellence. A superior ani- 

 mal in the hands of a man that knows nothing of 

 its habits, constitution, and wants, is like a fine 

 musical instrument in the possession of one that 

 has no knowledge of the concord of sweet sounds. 

 Although valuable to another, it is worthless to 

 him. The way to make general improvements 

 is to sustain those that set the example among us, 

 and show by practice at home what can and 

 should be done. The subjoined article is from 

 the Agriculturist : — 



FOREIGiV C:AT'I"LE. 



About eight months since, we noticed the follow ing par- 

 agraph in the New England Farmer: 'The Massacliusetts 

 Agricultural Hociely have recently imported from England 

 and Scotland, one bull and four cows of the North Devon, 

 and a bull and four cows of the Ayrshire breeds ; all said to 

 be good of their sc\eral kinds, at a cost of $3,000." 



It was with great pleasure and satisfaction that we read 

 the above paragrapli, and it was our intention at the time to 

 have made some remarks upon it, but sucli has been the 

 demand upon our columns, that we have not been able to 

 lind a place for them till now. Tl is importation, together 

 with a subsequent one by Mr. Webster, of 3Iassachusetts, 

 shows that the good old Bay State is alive to the im|)rove- 

 rnent of its neat stock, and that a reviving interest pervades 

 this as well as many other sections of the country. \Vc 

 truottliui while these imported bulls are judiciously bred to 

 native cows, the imported cows may be bred to none but 

 these bulls, or others of pure breed fully equal to ihern, so 

 that the stock will be kept pure and perpetuated with a view 

 of improving that of the counlry at large, for generations 

 yet to come, and not be neglected and suffered to run out, 

 as has been the case with pretty much all, heretofore im- 

 ported. We admire the liberality of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural .Scxiety ; $3,000 for ten anituals— $800 eacli— 

 li a prelty high price t'nough to send abroad these limes for 

 neat cattle ; and we hope, before any more ini; ortaiioiis 

 are made, that the Socioliecj and people of this country will 

 cast about a liule, and see if ihey cannot supply theni.selvcs 

 equally well at home, and at a much cheaper rate ; for we 

 hold It the duty of every good citizen to expend his money 

 in his own country, wli-m it is possible to get anything like 

 the value for it, rather than send abroad. Upwards of four 

 years ago we c ime to the conrlusion, after a pretty thorou-^h 

 personal inspection of the dilTerent breeds of neat cattle in 

 Englan.i, that we only wanted now and then a very supe- 

 rior bull or so, to give fresh tdood to our stock, and that we 

 already have about as good materials for all necessary im- 

 provement as Great Britain can furnish us ; and to this 

 opinion we still adhere. 



Let us now look about a little, and name a few enterpri- 

 !-mg persons who have imported and are bre^din^ Devong 



forms, for the simple reason that the demand for his young 

 bulks is far short of the increase. So fastidious has he been 

 in his breeding, that for several years after he commenced, 

 he steadily refused to part with a single animal to breed, 

 until he got his herd to suit him in their general excellence, 

 and he had made his third trial of imported bulls from Eng- 

 land, the last one, from Bloomfield's herd, the same from 

 which the 3Iassacluisctls bull was taken. At length, when 

 he opened his herd for sale, he placed the choicest of them 

 except the selections for his own immediate breeding, at the 

 moderate price of $100 ; and nritlicr more did he demand, 

 nor less did he ask. Would it not have been quite as well 

 for the Massachusetts Society to have purchased of Mr. 

 Patterson at ,$100 each, rather than in England at $300 ? 



Mr. Colt, of New Jersey, has some beautiful Devons : 

 tlie Messrs. Hurlbut, of Connecticut ; Mr. Washburn, of 

 Otsego County, this State, has a fine herd imported by Mr. 

 Rotch, and crossed in with Mr. Patterson's stock ; Mr. Al- 

 len, of Black Rock, has a choice herd, made up from Mr. 

 Patlcrsons's slock and recent importations from England. — 

 Messrs. Garbutt &, Breck, of Genesee County, have been 

 breeding superior Devon cattle for years, and last October 

 advertised a public s de of 40 to 50 head. With all their ef- 

 forts, they could only sell 14 head, at an average price of 

 $tjO each. The Massachusetts importation cost ,$300 each, 

 as before remarked , and those who have seen both, say, 

 they are in no respects superior to Messrs. Garbutt & 

 Breck's, when for (he same money they could have got five 

 for one ! 



A few years since, a young Englishman imported into the 

 western part of this State, a very superior young bull and 

 two heifers, pure North Devons, from the herd of Mr. Davy, 

 of North Moulton, Devonshire, one of the best breeders of 

 this sort of stock in England — his animals generally taking 

 tlie first prizes wherever exhibited. These he found it dif- 

 ficult to dispose of at $100 each. They fell into hands that 

 appreciated them, and are now highly valued. A m ijority 

 of the cows composing the above herds, are good milkers, 

 giving from 16 to 22 quarts per day, making rather more 

 than an average proportion of butter, thus showing tlie su- 

 perior quality of the milk, 



Now, as to Ayrshires. Mr. John P. Gushing, of Water- 

 town, near Boston, some ten years since, or more, imported 

 eight or ten cows and one or two bulls, which he ordered 

 to be selected from the very best breeds, without regard to 

 cost, in Scotland. These he has bred ever since, and, with 

 his accustomed munificence, has given away, as we luider- 

 stand, several young animals every year, both to Agricul- 

 tural Societies, and to individuals, for the benefit of the 

 public. Of this liberality the Massachusetts Society have, 

 very unwisely, as we think, declined to avail themselves. 



Capt. George Randall, of New Bedford, some years ago, 

 imported several Ayrshires of great excellence, from which 

 he has bred many young animals of equal pretensions, and 

 sold at moderate prices. Mr. Griswold, of Connecticut, and 

 Mr. Pal ten, of New Vork, have also imported the best ani- 

 mals that money could procure ; several other individuals 

 in f'iiTorent parts of flie country have done the same. In 

 September, 1844, we saw standing in the Ayrshire quarter 

 uf tlie State Cattle Show-, at Poughkeepsie, an excellent 

 bull, imported into Montreal two years previously, and sent 

 there for sale, with full pedigree, and approved descent, 

 for which the owner could not obtain $100 ! Two or three 

 receut'y imported cows were there also, which could have 

 been bought for that sum each. And yet, with all these 

 fine animals before the public, from several dilTerent lierds 

 of un(|ueslioned excellence, the Massachusetts Society send^ 

 to Scotland, at an expense of -1,500, to buy five Ayrshires, 

 in no way superior to what they could at anytime obtain at 

 home for one-third the money.' 



Let us be understood. We have no wish, in the slightest 

 degri e, to discourjige the promotion of the highest excellence 

 in all that apperttin>- to our agricultural advancement, We 



