NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published l.y JOHN B. RUSSKLL, at the comer of Congn-ss and I.iiiflall Strerts. (Six doors fioni the Poat Oflice) Hoston.— TMOM \S G. FFFSFMIF.N, rniTOR. 



VOL. in. 



FRtDAY, MAY 6, UJ-i.-J. 



No. 41. 



ORSGIKAIi COMIguyiCATl OWS. I 



ion THE NEW CXGLAXn l-ARMEi;. 



ON l.MPROViXG Tlit: NATIVE liHCED OF 

 NEW nXGI.AND CATI'LC. | 



Ao. IV. ■ I 



1 conlom! for nn p;>rticiil,ir lirpfd ofciillle, (o 

 the exclusion of all oiliers. ll is donlitlp'is a cor- 1 

 rect o]iiiiion, " lli;it in iim^t i)( Ihe st'iuiine breeds 

 there :ire dilTerences in lUe indhiduuls. And' 

 a^ m.iny of the mixed breeds alTurd excellent i 

 iiiilUers, it m;i_v ho the host mode, in order to i 

 esliihli^h A ^ood dairy-stork, whelhor lor liuller 

 or cheese, lor the farmer to breed IVom sucli 

 cows, of uhalever kind ihev may l)o, a^^ he has I 

 found fiom experience tlio l)c<t for the pur- 

 |)ose."* Bui where a slock cnlirchj ne-c^ is high- 

 ly recommended, he can, in the lirst instaDce, 

 only have recourse lo the experience of others : 

 and when its superiority is eslahlish^id by the 

 only sure test — the greater quantity of butler 

 or cheese from the same food — lie may safely 

 adojit it. And ;n rearing young coiv-stook, com- 

 mon sense (llie allention being roused to the 

 subject) will direct every farmer to select his 

 calves Mom the best milkers, having regard to 

 ihe quality as well as the i|ua!itity of their miik. 

 And this rule ol selection applies as well to '.he 

 male as to tljoy'cmii/e calves. In both, the situa- 

 tion of the teats will deserve allenlion : the far- 

 ther apart ihei)elter. l^mucli donbl ivhctherany 

 cow n lio'^e teats were very near toge;lu r, was 

 ever a prime milker. 



Because some cows will give milk till Ih.'-v 

 calve, their value has been supposed to he pro- 

 portionably advanced. 1 am inclined to think 

 that this is an error. 1 recollect the obfervalion 

 of a friend, made to me more than til'ly yeirs 

 ajo, as the result of his experience with two or 

 three cows carefully attended — That a cow 

 ou^hl lo go dry about five weeks before calving. 

 that her bag >uight be filled and distended •.ailh niilk^ 

 the effect of which would be a much more abund- 

 ant supply of milk afterwards. This same fritnd. 

 at a subsequent period, ke|)t a herd of forty cdvvs 

 lo yield milk for sale. And his son inform^ me 

 (hat his falhercontinued to practise by the same 

 rule. — Another friend, whose personal atteition 

 also was given lo the subject, has experienced 

 the same effect, even to the difference, in one 

 instance, in his estimation, of one third h Ihe 

 quantity of milk. — In the great dairy couoly of 

 Cheshire, in England,jhe same opinion is enter- 

 tained ; and the farmers permit their co.vs to 

 become dry ten weeks before calving. This 

 practice however, may arise in part from their 

 custom of feeding them, when dry, with wheal, 

 barley and oat straw, until within three weeks 

 of their calving. It is said, however, bv the 

 writer on Dairying, in Rees' Cyclopedia, thai if 

 cows are -ji^cll fed, the drying them of their milk 

 lor any time betbre calving, is wholly uniieces 

 sary. Mr I'owel says — " The secretions of mill.: 

 are certainly augmented by milking carefully 

 and systematically, stripping every drop from 



' Rees' Cyclopedia — Art. UAiaviNc. 



the uilder ; hut I have not found the duration 

 of a cow's milk in any wise affecleil by Ihe pe- 

 riod at which she had been dried, previous to 

 the birth of her young.'' But he then remarks 

 Ihat " I'ow cows [if left to themselves, as in a 

 state of nature, I suppose i« meant] allow their 

 calves to suck longer than within two months of 

 the time of parturition During the laller stag- 

 es of gestation, the foetus requires those portions 

 of nourishment from which the se<;relions of 

 milk must necessarily detract." — He adds " 1 

 would turn offline cows two months before the 

 birth of their young." Mr Cramp, the owner of 

 Ihe famous Sus-ex cow, exjiresses the same o- 

 pinion, as to the duration and quantity of a cow's 

 milk. Yet the varving ()roducts of his own cow, 

 in butter, in different yenr^, as given by himself 

 supports the general opinion ; as may here be 

 seen. 



!st year, in 48 wcpks, his cow yielded of butter .'jlOlbs. 

 *2d year, ni 4.j weeks, ba.\ in^ gone dry 17 days 450 Uis. 

 31 year, in .'il '\-'Z weeks. lnving s^oiie dry .57 dn's t)751b3. 

 4th y'r, in 4'-' \-l wMis. havin; gone dry igda's 4ljfilbs. 

 .'ith y'r, in 40 weeks, having gone dry 40 days 594 lbs. 



This b\\\ year she hat! twin calves ivhich she 

 suckled 9 weeks, during which she yielded no 

 butter. 



In his details of her weekly milk and butter, 

 Mr Cramp says he leit off milking her m\ the 

 I3th of February, Ui09, and that she calved the 

 3d of .\pril following; yet he says aftcrivar(h, 

 that she gave millc, this y^ar, until -he calved 

 she would not go dry : but the miik was brack- 

 ish, am! lit only lor Ihe hogs. 

 I Mr Champ's .ind Mr ()aki;s' cows have been 

 called '■ prodigies;" and so, indeed, they were 

 when compared with other cows. But with 

 their conslilvtionnl dispositiun to yield from the 

 <ame food, much more rich milk than cow.^ in 

 general, must be combined the extraordinary 

 keep ot both; which enabled them to produce 

 such immense ipiantities of butter. In 1813, Mr 

 Oakes' cow, then four years old, yielded only 

 ISO lbs. of butler; but this being about double 

 Ihe quantity usually obtained fiom a common 

 cow, Mr Oakes. was induced to imjirove her 

 'cc/i ; and in 1814 she yielded oOOlbs. of butter. 

 He then slill farther increased her food, in quan- 

 tify and quality : so in 1815 she yielded ovei' 

 400lhs. Finally, feeding her to the full, with 

 as much rich and varied sorts of food as he.could 

 tempt her to take, she in 1816, in 32^^ weeks af- 

 ter her calf was killed, yielded 4G7 lbs. of butter, 

 to which add the 17 lbs. made while her call 

 sucked, and we have the 484 lbs. slated in the 

 Repository. — In the last week, ending Decem- 

 ber 20, she yielded ten pounds of butler. And 

 if in the next week she gave only six pounds, 

 and in the ten following weeks 5 lbs. per week, 

 making 56 lbs. and this quantity be added to the 

 484 lbs. we have 640 lbs. — just three times as 

 much as she yielded Ihe first year, on common 

 keep. Hence it may fairly be presumed, that 

 Ihe production oj" at least half ofi her butter, arose 

 Irom her being supplied to the lull, with a va- 

 riety of good, and in jiarl with the richest food. 

 Mr Cramp, having decribed the various and a- 

 liundant quantities of food given lo his cow, and 

 his manner of treatiug her, says — " he thinks 



that cows would nearly double, in the course o* 

 the season, their quantity of milk and butter, by 

 following his plan." 



Considering how little attention was formerly 

 given — ifinileedany were given — to improve 

 our native breed of cattle, it Is not surprising' 

 that very lew of a su[ierior character should now 

 he seen. I doubt not however, that enough may 

 be found of which, in a few years, a most valu- 

 able stock may be raised, if only one or two 

 substantial farmers, in every township, will en- 

 gage in the undertaking. The Agricultural So- 

 ciety of Essex County in 1323, offered liberal 

 premiums for this object, the claims to be re- 

 ceived and decided in 1828. In the present year 

 they make like offers of premiums on claims 

 for such improved cattle, in 1829 and 1830. 



Mr Povvri, and Major Rudd mention, as ofvery 

 maleri.il importance, that ihe improved short- 

 horns "• handle" well. The latter gives the 

 following description of this race. "A small 

 and tine head — a rapacious chest —the shoulders 

 Ivmg l/ack in the body- -the ribs round and bar- 

 rel like — the hack straight from the neck to the 

 top oftho tail — the loins wide — the hind quarter 

 long and straight — the twist full and deep — the 

 hone small, and offal lighl. — To these points of 

 shape must ho added Ibn great essential o( good 

 handlirif;. This was formerly not consi<lered in 

 this country, but has now become essential, since 

 it has been discovered to be Ihe tovch-sione as 

 it were, or index, of the propensity to fatten.'' 

 I do not know to what period of time past Major 

 Rr^ \'s " formerly'' was irieant to be applied. — 

 Bvir Certainly BAKEWr./fi, understood anri practis- 

 ed on Ihe art of" handling,"' fifty or sixty years 

 ago, when he had conceived, and practised upon 

 those principles of breeding which have been 

 ihe guide of other breeders from that to the 

 present lime. 1 recollect thai in some of Ar- 

 THin Young's works, which l mel with I believe 

 from 30 to 40 years since, he describes this mat- 

 ter of huiidling as a most im[iortanf point, in Bake- 

 well's opinion, and perfectly familiar to him 

 as an old established principle ; and gives the 

 following striking ilbistraiion of it. Bakewell 

 told him, that if obliged to choose cattle in Ihe 

 day time, by seeing them only, ivithoul feeling 

 — nr in Ihe dark by feeling only, xi'itliout seting 

 them — he would prefer choosing them in the 

 dark by feeling. And he endeavored to make 

 Mr Y'ouNG practically acquainted with this art 

 of determining Ihe disposition of the animal to 

 thrive and fallen well, by handling him. The 

 evidence of that disposition was a certain mel- 

 lowness of the flesh, which was obvious to 

 the touch of that experienced breeder, and 

 which enabled him to discriminate and decide 

 the character of the animal simply by feeling of 

 him. 



But although it was Bakewell who first made 

 breeders sensible of the importance of good 

 handling, 1 presume there is no observing 

 farmer who, on the mention of it, would not as- 

 sent to it as correct ; and immediately say, that 

 a hide-bound ox or cow would be a bad " feed- 



•Engllsh farmers call cattle put to fallen, "feeders" 

 good or bsid/ciders, astbty thrive vfell or ill. 



