CATTLE. 



CATTLE. 



maturity, though we admit that they arrive at 

 maturity early. Many of the short-horned pre- 

 mium young animals which have been exhi- 

 bited at our cattle-shows have had the benefit 

 of two wet-nurses for six months. Most of our 

 native calves are put off with two teats, and at 

 eight or ten weeks old are turned adrift into 

 the pasture to live or die as they please. Our 

 own stock has never had fair play; and if 

 treated in the same manner as the best short- 

 horned stock, they would not perhaps fall so far 

 behind them as might be supposed. Our pas- 

 tures are in general short, and our winters loflg. 

 A smaller race of cattle, therefore, and a more 

 hardy stock would seem better adapted to our 

 condition. 



"The London milk establishments are main- 

 ly supplied with the short-horns, because, it is 

 said, they give more milk, and, after becoming 

 dry, take on flesh sooner than other races, and 

 are therefore more easily disposed of to the 

 butcher. The size of these animals would na- 

 turally indicate a larger yield of milk, and, at 

 the same time, a greater consumption of food. 

 But the yield of milk is put down at an ave- 

 rage of nine quarts daily. These are presumed 

 to be wine quarts, and deducting one-fifth, it 

 does not much exceed the yield of some* milk- 

 establishments among us. Besides, in the Lon- 

 don dairies, cows are not suffered to become 

 with calf. 



"One of the most extraordinary short-horn 

 cows known in England, it is said, produced 

 373 pounds of butter in 32 weeks* 17 pounds 

 being the largest quantity made in any one 

 week. This is quoted as quite remarkable ; 

 but this, as far as it goes, does not equal the 

 Oakivs, the Nourse, the Adams, or the Spring- 

 field cow. One of the best-informed and most 

 ardent advocates for the short-horns, the late 

 Henry Berry, remarks: 'That their milk dues 

 not contain the same proportionate quantity of 

 butter as that from the long-horns, the Scotch 

 cattle, or the Devons, is probably true; but we 

 have reason to believe that the difference has 

 been much exaggerated, and is more than com- 

 pensated by the additional quantity of milk.' 



"The quantity of cheese made in a year 

 from a cow in the celebrated cheese district 

 of Wiltshire, England, is thus stated: 'The 

 quantity of cheese that is made from each cow 

 in this district, is greater than is common in 

 any ether cheese-making country, sometimes 

 as much as 4$ cwt. or 5 cwt. per cow, seldom 

 lower than 3 cwt. Perhaps 3$ cwt. is a fiir 

 average in a good cheese-making year on 

 every cow that calves in proper time.' In the 

 famous district of Cheshire, in England, the 

 average amount of cheese to a cow is stated 

 at 2$ cwt. The old breed of Irish cattle, much 

 valued for the dairy, will produce from 84 to 

 112 Ibs. of butter per year; a very good cow 

 will yield H cwt., that is, 168 Ibs. net. Of the 

 Ayrshire cows, kept in the highest condition 

 for giving milk, it is stated that the yearly ave- 

 rage in milk may be 650 gallons or 2600 quarts 

 (wine measure, I presume, is intended), and 90 

 gallons will make 24 Ibs. of butter, or 15 quarts 

 (wine measure) to a pound. In another case 

 t is said ' that a well-fed cow of a good breed 

 will produce on an average 180 Ibs. of butter 



in the season, though the common calculation 

 is 150 Ibs. In the Epping district, where there 

 is an indiscriminate mixture of Devon, Suffolk, 

 Leicester, Holderness, and Scotch, the calcula- 

 tion in a well managed dairy amounts to 212 

 Ibs. per year to a cow. In one case in Sussex, 

 upon an actual trial, the cows produced only 

 136 Ibs. per season.' 



"As far, then, as we can depend on these 

 accounts, our own native cattle for dairy stock 

 will not suffer by comparison with the best 

 English stock of any of those races most dis- 

 tinguished for their milking properties. Our 

 own Cheshire cheese dairies certainly yield 

 the palm to none. 



'The cross of the Durham short-horns with 

 the Devon has produced in many cases an ex- 

 cellent stock. But, if of no other value to the 

 country, their introduction will prove an im- 

 mense benefit by showing our farmers what 

 can be done in improving the size, form, and 

 condition of their o\vn stocks, by a most care- 

 ful selection from the very best, by persevering 

 attempts to amend defects and engraft goo^ 

 properties in the animal constitution, and by 

 constant care and good keeping. 



"It cannot be denied that a vast proportion 

 of our cows are wretched in their form, health, 

 and condition. There is no reason, on the 

 other hand, to doubt that by breeding only from 

 the best on both sides, and by a liberal mode 

 of keeping, we may produce a dairy stock and 

 a stock for labour as well adapted to our pas- 

 tures, climate, and husbandry as can be found. 

 Perhaps I should be authorized to add for beef 

 also, that is, producing as many pounds accord- 

 ing to the expense of their keep. The average 

 weight of bullocks slaughtered at Smithfield, 

 the great cattle market of England, is 656 Ibs. 

 At Brighton, in this county, the average weight 

 of oxen is 875 Ibs., and of steers 600 Ibs. each. 

 The last is thought by some persons to be 

 overrated. The weight used at Brighton is net 

 weight; 1 cwt. being now reckoned at 100 Ibs. 

 avoirdupois. 



" The great cattle fair qf the state, and indeed 

 of New England, is held at the beautiful village 

 of Brighton, about six miles from Boston, on 

 the Monday of every week. Here capacious 

 pens are erected for the reception of such live- 

 stock as may be brought in, and the drovers 

 and butchers assemble f*>m all directions. The 

 business of selling and buying is principally 

 got through with on Monday, though cattle and 

 other stock, when prices are not satisfactory to 

 the seller, are frequently kept over, for a week 

 or fortnight, for a better market. With the ex- 

 ception of a small fair at Danvers, in Essex 

 county, held occasionally in the fall, I know 

 of no other cattle fair in New England. Cattle, 

 sheep, and swine are brought here from the 

 interior of the state, from Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire, Vermont, from New York, and some- 

 times from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and 

 Kentucky. 



" I ascertained some time since at the Bull's 



Head Market, in New York, that the expense 



of a drove of cattle, consisting of one hundred 



head, from the vicinity of Lexington, Kentucky, 



to that place, including the expenses of one 



: night and a day in New York, was 1,300 dollars, 



2C 301 



