1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



277 



one more heifer calf in consequence of this meet- 

 ing ; indeed, he hoped there would be a general 

 interest in raising more stock. 



Mr. Stebbins, of Deerfield, coincided with the 

 views of Mr. Sheldon. He thought it would be 

 not only three but six years before there could be 

 any reduction in the i^rlce of stock ; calves are now 

 brought from Ohio to the New York market for 

 veal. He knew of no business more profitable than 

 raising stock ; he had not killed more than five 

 young cattle in ten years. Farmers in his section 

 of the State make a great mistake in neglecting 

 their young stock, suffering the calves to grow up 

 without much care. Many seem to think that if 

 they can keep a calf through the winter, with the 

 breath of life in its body, it will do well enough in 

 spring. A man may as well keep his laborers on 

 half feed and expect them to do a good day's work. 

 It is as important to keep cattle warm and well 

 fed as to keep men so. Steers are broken and put 

 to work too young ; it is well to train theaa young, 

 but not to work them hard till they are at least 

 three years old. 



As to horses, there are many more diseased 

 horses now, than there were thirty years ago. This 

 is in consequence of too early and too hard work. 

 It is possible to have a good horse for fast travel, 

 for work, and a docile one that a woman may drive, 

 in the same animal. 



Mr. Macomber, of Marshfield, thought the sub- 

 ject of stock had been too much neglected in his 

 part of the State. In his neighborhood, the stock 

 of swine had been improved by the introduction 

 of a breed by Mr. Webster — a cross of the Mackay 

 and Suffolk. There is more attention paid to stock 

 growing in his region than formerly. More calves 

 are being raised this spring than ever before. Their 

 stock had been much benefited by the introduction 

 of foreign breeds of cattle. 



Mr. Wetherell spoke of the great difference 

 in the size of cattle at the present day compared 

 with what it was twenty-five years ago. It is not 

 uncommon now to hear of cattle weighing, when 

 dressed, 1500 lbs., while at that period it was very 

 rare to hear of one that weighed 1000 lbs. That 

 indicates improvement. One great objection to 

 raising cattle is that a good veal calf will bring as 

 much at six weeks old, as when a year old. An- 

 other objection is that butter, cheese and milk are 

 so high. When a calf can be sold at six weeks 

 old for from $16 to $20, and the milk can then 

 be had for sale, it is diflacult to persuade a farmer 

 that it is not profitable to do it, rather than raise 

 the calf. He spoke of seeing a yard of cows in 

 Worcester county, so poor in the spring that they 

 could scarcely get up. It would take half the sum- 

 mer to get them in decent heart, and the owner 

 lost much by that course. Instead of being econ- 

 omy it is stinginess to pursue such a course. There 



is nothing so bad as that spirit of stinginess. Far- 

 mers do not cultivate an esprit du corps suflicient- 

 ly. There is nothing so lamentable as to see far- 

 mers looking so much to professional men for ophi- 

 ion, and for the lead in society. Let farmers esti- 

 mate themselves as they really are, the real aris- 

 tocracy of society. If they will respect themselves 

 they will command respect, and make their voca- 

 tion respected as the highest and noblest employ- 

 ment of man. If any man can afford to speak out 

 his opinion, it is the farmer. 



Mr. H. E. RocKW^ELL said he was reminded by 

 the remarks of gentlemen in regard to the impoli- 

 cy of keeping sto.;k poorly through the winter, of 

 a stanza upon that subject written many years ago 

 by a Connecticut farmer of much sagacity and ex- 

 perience, whirh was : 



•'Alas the fate of lou?y calves ! 



Thoy are ever on the wing ; 

 For if they live the winter through 



They often die in spring." 



The same gentleman was remarkable for his love 

 of order, and was much annoyed by the displace- 

 ment of tools by careless help, and having been 

 much annoyed by the trouble of finding the curry- 

 comb, he one day put up in the stable in large 

 characters the following, which may appl}', as a 

 principle, to other tools : 



"Cursed be he, whoever he he, — 

 And let the whole stable resound it, — 



VTho uses a curry, although in a hurry, 

 And don't jiut it up where he found it." 



Mr. Wetherell alluded to the practice of feed- 

 ing poisons to some animals, particularly arsenic, 

 as it is sometimes done, for the purpose of affect- 

 ing the breathing of horses, or making their coats 

 sleek. In that connection he spoke of the fact 

 that at a certain distillery in Ohio strychnine and 

 tobacco were used so as thereby to increase the 

 amount of whisky. The fact that poison was thus 

 used was brought to light by the other -fact that 

 the fish i:*. the stream below the distillery were 

 killed. 



The President made some closing remarks. He 

 said that in 1830 he commenced raising all his 

 calves, and he kept an account for fifteen years of 

 the cost and of the price obtained, so that he might 

 judge of the profit. He found, then, that the av- 

 erage price of heifers in the fall after they were two 

 years old was $18,50 for the fifteen years. He 

 butchered them at that age, except the most prom- 

 ising ones. And for those that were kept, and af- 

 terwards killed when three years old, the average 

 price received was $25. In 1849, at a meeting 

 here, he made a statement of his estimate of the 

 profits of farming, which he put down at about ]?A 

 per cent — a statement founded on the experience 

 of fifteen years. He then stated that corn could 

 be raised in Massachusetts for fifty cents a bushel. 

 But farming is a better business now. He believed 



