NEW ENGLAN D FARMER. 



No. 38. 



VOL. III. 



FRIDAY, APRIlTTsTiyir 



©nflCnnl iCommunfrations. 



T. G. FliSSF.NDF.N, Esq. 



Editor of Hit M'ew England Farmer. 



Salem, .fipril ;■>, 1825. 

 Dkar ?ir— .Agreeably to my iiiliiiiHlion, when I last 

 !awyou, 1 send herewith some paper?, numbered I. II. 

 III. IV. on improving; our native brfed of cattle. The 

 subject is important ; and I hope my Etatemrnts and 

 remarks may contribute to satisfy your readers, that the 

 measure proposed is as practicable as it is important.— 

 Were but two or three farmers, in every township ol 

 tbe State, to turn a zealous attention to it, the object 

 Would in a few years be accomplished. Whereas hal'" 

 a ceotary, or more, might elapse before a general im- 

 prorement by foreign crosses would be effected. It re- 

 mains, too, to be ascertained, whether any other breeds 

 really deserve the preference, in New England, to our 

 native race, improved as it may be, and in so much less 

 time than will be possible ly means of a small number 

 of imported cattle. At any rate, improvements in both 

 ways may go hand in haiid,aiid be mutually benc/icial to 

 both sorts of improvers. T. PICKERING. 



'il buiicr (heir milk will _yield ; nnd it is the quaii 

 titv ol butter, not ofm/tt, lh.it (IntermineMlie val- 

 ue of a dairy cow. Whether the .«anie rich milk 

 yielding much bullcr, would be alike produc- 

 live of cheese, I do not know : but we muv well 

 suppose it would make (he richest, and consc- 

 pifDtl}' the nio^t valuable cheeses. 



FOR THE r-IEW- ENGLAND FARMER. 



OX IMPROVING THE NATIVE BREED OF 

 NEW ENGL.VND CATTLE. 



No. I. 



I luvt long entertained, and repeatedly ex- 

 pressed the opinion, that a tine breed ofcattle. 

 peciiluiriy adapted to the combined objecis of the 

 farmers of Massachusetts, and indeed of all New 

 England, might be most readily and extensive- 

 ly obtained, by (he spirited exertions of substan- 

 tial farmers to improve our nalive breed. My 

 attention has been again drawn to this suKjecl 

 by (he last report of the committee of the Wor- 

 cester Agricultural Society, on milch cows and 

 (at catde. 



The Committee say—" Ninc(een cows were 

 offered lor premiums, and all, except one, of our 

 native breed. They generally had the appear- 

 ance of extraordinary value, and all gave evi- 

 dence of intrinsic worlh. Their exhibition a.*"- 

 lorded additional proof, (hat our own slock of 

 cows needs no other improvement than can be 

 obtained by a careful selection and a judicious 

 attention (o the origin and management of her 

 progeny." 



The first and third premiums were awarded 

 to two cows of the native breed. Olhers of the 

 same breed were so good, (he committee re- 

 mark, that another set of judges might have a- 

 warded premiums to Mm, instead of tho<e se- 

 lected by the committee. The second premium 

 whs awarded for a hali-breed cow, whose sire| 

 wa-^ (he celebrated English bull Denlon, be-' 

 longing (o my nephew .S. WiLUAMs.Esq.ofNorlh- 

 boiough. I have since learned that this cow 

 was large, well proportioned, and apparently 

 well formed lor giving an abundance of rich bee( • 

 but (hat she was not remarkable as a milker — 

 iMor have I yet me( with account.s of any of (he 

 most celebrated English breeds that surpass (he 

 best cows of our native breed, for the quantity 



F.XGLISII rAIRII.S. 



In examining some books of English writers 

 on husbandry, and observing tlie great and use- 

 lul changes effected in the forms and qualities of 

 iheir native breeds, by judicious selections of 

 breeders, by a few intelligent farmers, it seemed 

 jf'vidpnt, that l)y adopting their methods, similar 

 i improvements in (he na(ive predominant breed 



I of New Engliind might be obtained. 



II believe Ap.thux-v You.ns was the first scien- 

 lilic and practical farmer who travelled throu-'h 

 mi.ny parts of England, to observe the course'of 

 husli.indry in all ils branches, (o no(e (h<j excel- 

 lences and defects, and to publish them for (he 

 bonefil of his countrymen. This was be(weon 

 btty and six(y years ago. I( was (hen (ha( he 

 fi-.w the celebrated Roi Vxt Bakewei.l, to whom, 

 be says, England is indebted for (he just princi- 

 ples lor improving the various breeds of domes- 

 tic animals. 



^ In his Nordiera Tour, Young noticed difTerent 

 tirceds of cattle, and (heir characters for milk, 

 butter and cheese. Some cows gave only (wo 

 gallons of milk a d.ay ; while others gave" 3, 4. 



.^ G. 7, 8, and some 9 gallons of milk a day ;— 

 I ami he slates the average quantity !o be b gal- 

 lons per cow. Yet the farmers obiMined upon a 

 medium, only 2 firkins of butter a ycnr per cow, 

 and cheese about one third in value of the but- 

 ter. A firkin of butter is 56 pounds, in one 

 district, where some good cows gave froin 6 (o 

 7 gallons of milk a day, (he dairies averaged 2' 

 firkins, or 140 pounds per cow ; in another dis^- 

 'rict 3 firkins, or 168 pounds. In another dis- 

 trict, a dairy of midilling cows gave from 2 (o 4 

 gallons of milk a day, and yielded from 4 to 7 

 pounds of butter per week ; thus requiring 

 from 14 to 16 quarts of milk to make 1 pound oV 

 butter.— In his Eastern Tour, Young mentions 

 the Lincolnshire breed of cattle, of which he 

 says (he best cows will give, on an average, 6 

 gallons of milk a day, or 7 or G pound-^ of butter 

 a week ; thus requiring in one case 24 quarts of 

 milk to make a pound of butler, and in the oth- 

 er 21 quarts. 



From 35 (o 40 years ago, the ingenious Mr 

 Marshall (ravelled over England ; (aking up his 

 residence, for many months, in a central station 

 of every large district, the more accurately to 

 survey and note the course of husbandry in each. 

 In his Rural Economy of Yorkshire, he says (hat 



j about 400 weu^.t per cow : [448 lbs,] but they 

 , make cheese ibe yeifr round. They have rich 

 . pastures, and their cheeses are rich. The best 

 I English cheesR I ever (as(ed was from Nordi 

 i WiKshire. ".'/he long horned breed of catde 

 was that on which Uakewell rai.sed his distin- 

 guished impruvemonls. 



In Rees' Cyclopedia, a work published a few 

 years ago in Knglnnd, and since in (he United 

 States, under the article Dam/m^, the following 

 statement appears :— That on a medium, four 

 J gallons of milk will make a pound of butter; 

 and (he quandly which a dairy of cows of any 

 magnKude, in regard to numbers, may be sup- 

 Iiosed (o yiel * may be raitd a( G pounds each, 

 per week, in summer, and from 4 (o 5 in win- 



ler, accordin;.f to the manner of feeding them. 



"In (he Epping pracdcc, the average quantity 

 ol butter made by a cow per week, was found 

 io be 4 p.)und;, and the whole, in nine months, 

 1 56 pounds." Epping bu((er has been long cel- 

 ebrated in the London market. 



\^ good cow was calculated to vield 3 firkins o( 

 butler (168 lbs.) and 56 pourids of skim milk 

 cheese : but he adds, (ha( (aking a whole dairy 

 ol cows, in which heifers were inlermixed, 2 \ 

 firkins (140 lbs.) per covv, were estimated a 

 good pioduce, taking the dairy round. 



In North Wiltshire, Marshall says the long 

 horned oow has been the established species, 

 lime immemorial; and he considers their pro- 

 duce in cheese (o be extraordinary— averaging! 



AMERICAN DAIRIES. 



Algernon Roberts, owner of a farm of 280 

 acres, a few niiles from Philadelphia, ((he mar- 

 ke( for his bu((er) had a dairy of 20 cows, 

 who.se average produce in butter, during 8 

 years (from 179G to 1803) was, for each cow, 

 173 pounds a year.* These cows were un- 

 doubtedly of (be nadve breed ; but (he cows in 

 the vicinity nf Philadelphia, were larger than 

 the cows i-^ £.'.neral in New England. 



In 181-f, ,^ii.v..:n Wheelf.r, of Framingham, 

 (22 miles from Boston) at the request of the 

 Trustees of the Massschusetts Society of Agri- 

 culture, gave them a statement of the product 

 "f his dairy of 7 cows, in 6 tufinlhs of 1817, 

 commencing the latter part of May, and ending 

 m November. The whole quantity of butter 

 was 941 f pounds, and of skim milk cheese, 

 1300 jiounds; being nearly 5 J- pounds of but- 

 ter, and 7 pounds of cheese, for each cow, per 

 week. One of the 7 cows he mentioned as a 

 small one, purchased (he la((er end of June, 

 with her calf; and the calf being kept 3^ weeks, 

 the cow could not have contributed to ("he prod- 

 uct of (he dairy (ill af(er the middle of July.* 

 In the same number of the Repository in which 

 the above statement is given, the Trustees men- 

 tion the information received of (he common 

 produc( of dairies in five other parts of the State, 

 which averaged only 92 pounds of butter annu- 

 ally, and as much skim milk cheese. But scarce- 

 ly any butler and cheese are made, by our farm- 

 ers in general, e.xcept during the pasturage sea- 

 son. These quantities are certainly small ; but 

 the common product of English cows, it is seen 

 .vas for the most part only 112 pounds of butter 

 per cow, and from some better dairies 140 lbs. 

 And it should be considered that (he English 

 cows, in general, are much larger (ban ours, 

 and fed in pasiures vasdy superior; so rich, in- 

 deed, that two acres, one acre and a half, and 

 very often one acre, are sufficient for a cow 

 during the whole pasturage season. Whereas, 



* .Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for promoting 

 Agriculture, vol. i. page 95. 



t Massachusetts Agricultural Jouiual, vol. v. no.l. 



