182 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Aug. 



Jhnprowfo Stock. 



SHORT-HORN AWD NATIVE CATTLE. 

 ET S. P. CHAPMAN. 



[Reply to W. Ilanford, jr., page 133 of present volume.] 



We regret that our former article was not definite 

 enough for our friend Hanford. We gave, as_ we 

 supposed, a very accurate account of the productions 

 of a few Durhams for the dairy, [and we could easi- 

 ly increase the number if necessary,] and in nearly 

 every instance, the keeping of said cows during, and 

 in some instances previous to the time of trial. If 

 we were deficient in not stating the exact amount of 

 food consumed, we would say that it would be very 

 difficult to do so, especially when cows are at grass 

 pasture, as was the case with all the examples giv«n, 

 with one exception. 



But what we regret still more is, that our friend 

 should write as he did about " premium testimony." 

 When individuals from different parts of the Union 

 and from other countries, too, selected on account 

 of their supposed good judgment in the matter to be 

 decided, having all the facts as to the age, keeping, 

 and management of the different animals offered, ful- 

 ly subscribed and sworn to by their respective own- 

 ers, give in their decisions, we are free to acknowl- 

 edge that such decisions has some weight with us, 

 "towards establishing the merits of an animal." 



Friend Harford had no occasion on our part, at 

 least, to have resorted to any testimony to prove 

 that there are good milkers among our native cows, 

 for it is something we have never in the least 

 doubted or denied; and least of all had he any oc- 

 casion for resorting to a " Sussex bred coiv, own- 

 ed in Lews, in England,'" " to prove this." The 

 ground taken by our friend, in his very excellent 

 and able article of February last, and to which we 

 took exception, w 7 as, [unless there had been error in 

 his instruction,] — "That full-blooded Durhams, 

 wherever found, were deficient in one, and that the 

 most important qualification," and that they were 

 great consumers, requiring an extra quality of food. 

 Now, whether we proved that such instructions, (if 

 any such were ever given in the Genesee Farmer,) 

 were incorrect, we leave for its readers to decide. 



Friend Hanford, after presenting us with a very 

 interesting account of the Sussex Cow, says: "All 

 will admit that her produce was a little extraordina- 

 ry; and it is invariably true that to do things ex- 

 traordinary with horned cattle, they require extraor- 

 dinary feed and care." With all duo respect for the 

 opinions of our friend, we will, with leave, present 

 him with a short extract from a letter recently re- 

 ceived from Mr. Vail, of Troy, N. Y. Mr. Vail's 

 cattle, it is true, have generally "short horns"; but 

 we believe, nevertheless, they are classed " with 

 horned cattle.'''' Perhaps if they were longer horns 

 however, our friend's " invariable" rule might prove 

 a little more correct. Mr. Vail says: "I have a 

 full blood Durham Cow, Eunice II., now about seven 

 years old, of my own breeding, which has made 

 this spring, on grass pasture only, nineteen and one- 

 fourth pounds of butter in one week. On the 9th 

 day of June ultimo, the milk drawn from heron that 

 day was accurately weighed, and the quantity yield- 

 ed was 71 J lbs, equal to 35 J quarts, wine measure. 

 Her keep was no better than that of the other 

 cows, and was grass pasture only. I own the dam 

 of this cow, and she gave in one day 32 quarts of 



milk, wine measure." If the produce of the Sussex 

 cow was a little extraordinary, we think the pro- 

 duce of Eunice II, and of her dam, would be con- 

 sidered at least extraordinary; and we do think 

 grass pasture is not extraordinary feed. 



We commenced a trial with "Ruby," (the heifer 

 purchased of Mr. Vail, and formerly referred to,) 

 the 30th of last month. She produced in one week 

 thirteen pounds and three ounces of butter. She is 

 now 4 years old, and was kept last Avinter on bar- 

 ley straw until the first of February. During this 

 month, she had hay and straw, mixed whole in about 

 equal quantities. After the 1st of March she was 

 fed good hay, until turned, to grass pasture, since which 

 time she has had no other food. The greatest quan- 

 tity of milk yielded in any one day was 47| lbs. 



That Mr. Colman should have requested Mr. 

 Prentice to put some of his cows on trial, and fur- 

 nish the readers of his paper with the result, we do 

 not consider as any " abatement" in the least of his 

 high and just encomiums of that noble stock; for it 

 is well known that Mr. P. had some excellent milk- 

 ers in his herd, and Mr. Colman was probably well 

 aware of this fact, when the request was made. — 

 We regret that we have not this entire article of Mr. 

 Colman's. Our extract was taken from the "Culti- 

 vator," in which it appeared, taken from, the New 

 Genesee Farmer. As to the bull Ccelebs, we cer- 

 tainly wish our friend had commenced his extract 

 just three and a half lines sooner; it would then 

 have read — "Mr. Jaqbes is of opinion that the ex- 

 cellence of his cream-pot breed is principally to be 

 ascribed to a c?~oss toith Calebs, but on what rational 

 grounds, it is difficult for me to discover. Their 

 beautiful color," &o. Now, whether Col. Jaques, 

 (whose opinion Mr. C. honestly gave,) who owned 

 this bull, and was well acquainted wuth every in- 

 dividual in his entire herd, or Mr. Colman, who 

 could evidently have had no such favorable oppor- 

 tunities for forming - his judgment, were most likely 

 to be correct, we think is very evident. In rela- 

 tion to the stock of Ccelebs, Col. Jaqucs in a letter to 

 the editor of the " Cultivator," in 1845, page 75, 

 says: "Mr. Leonard Stone, of Watertown, one of 

 our best and wealthiest farmers, says he had two 

 cows by I. Coolidge's premium bull, (a son of Cce- 

 lebs) that proved the best milkers he ever had." — 

 And the editor previously remarks, " Many of his 

 (Ccelebs') progeny were remarkable as milkers." 



"Has he (Mr. Colman) ever bred or owned a pure 

 bred Durham?" Don't know. Has he? and if so, 

 how many? He might have been unfortunate in his 

 selection, (if he ever owned any,) for we are free to 

 acknowledge that all Durhams are not of the same 

 quality. A breed of cattle that contained none but 

 good ones, would certainly be a desideratum. 



"Is Mr. Chapman satisfied?" With what? Our 

 Durhams ? Yes. With our friend's article ? We 

 have no fault to find. That Mr. Colman was not favor- 

 able to the Durhams? We were perfectly well aware 

 of this fact before we read our friend's able article, 

 and all we can obtain from one opposed to a thing in 

 its favor, we think must have some weight. Hear 

 what Mr. C. says in the same article extracted from 

 by our friend. [See Gen. Farmer, 1842, pages 3 

 and 20:] "In addition to these [importations of Dur- 

 hams] we have bad a valuable bull imported by a 

 merchant of Boston * * * and the superior bull 

 "Bolivar," imported by John Hare Powel, of Penn- 

 sylvania, from I. Whittaker's stock, in England, cele- 



