112 



Short-horns as Milhers. 



Vol. VIII 



herd ; it would not then be reasonable to 

 expect a Short-horn breeder to kill his 

 calves at a day old, or bring them up in 

 some inferior manner, for the purpose of 

 making a dairy " for the benetit of the pub- 

 lic." Breeders are not so philanthropic, 

 they look more to their own interests, and 

 have all confidence themselves in the breed 

 they have chosen. 



But supposing the breeder, who is as 

 strenuous for the milking character of his 

 stock as the dairyman, should propose to 

 Mr. Norton another test of this desirable 

 quality, about as fair as his own. Now sir, 

 there is no "humbug," no "moonslime" in 

 a calf, no prevarication, no blundering in 

 figures, no mistakes, no trusting to others, 

 but he speaks for himself; therefore, instead 

 of deciding the question by the weight of 

 butter and cheese, what if the breeder should 

 propose to raise some ten or a dozen calves 

 at the foot of their respective dams, against 

 the same number of calves from native cows 

 brought up in the same way] "There is 

 no estimate here ; it is the actual weight" 

 that would be sought;* nor does he even ask 

 you to take his report, which would include 

 a whole summer's work, performed, perhaps, 

 by several different persons, but he shows 

 you the certain results of the milking pro- 

 perty of his herd, uninfluenced by the skill 

 or mismanagement of a manufacturing pro- 

 cess, on which much depends. I, for one, 

 am inclined to think the natives, in spite of 

 the 583-^ lbs. of cheese formerly made by 

 their dams, would be found wanting in the 

 balance, to say nothing of the vast difference 

 that might exist, if the sale of the calves 

 were carried out in dollars and cents. This 

 proposition, if made by a breeder to a dairy 

 man, would be about as fair as that proposed 

 by Mr. Norton to breeders of improved stock. 

 Again, I would ask of your readers, if they 

 really consider that Mr. Sotham is placed 

 in a position to be encouraged by the results 

 so courteously offered him by Mr. Norton 

 of a dairy that has been probably some years 

 arriving at its present very creditable posi 

 tion, while Mr. Sotham is milking, for the 

 first year, some dozen young things brought 

 over as untried heifers, and almost the only 

 ones in the country; and therefore, as it 

 were, without the power or chance of se 

 lection, whereas it is reasonable to suppose 

 a dairy of natives may, and ought to be, of 

 tried cows, picked up here and there, out of 

 the thousands which form the great mass of 

 cattle around them. Has it never occurred 

 to gentlemen, when they have cited this 



* And who so truth-telling as a calf, when giving 

 evidence for or against its nurse? 



and that native animal for any extraordinary 

 quality, that they were but individual cases, 

 exceptions to the tens of thousands who 

 formed tlic rule of poverty that everywhere 

 marks tlie unimproved native breed, and 

 when comparing such isolated cases with 

 the imported stock, did they take into con- 

 sideration that the whole number of the lat- 

 ter was but a handful in comparison with 

 these natives] I suspect not, or more rea- 

 sonableness would have been shown on the 

 subject. I will close by remarking, that it 

 has been matter of surprise to me, that the 

 scepticism in relation to the Short-horn as a 

 dairy cow, should not give way before the 

 almost universal testimony borne by practi- 

 cal men to the great excellence of their 

 grades; whence should come their superi- 

 ority over the common cow, but from the 

 Short-horn blood ? In this belief some dai- 

 rymen are already forming their herds en- 

 tirely of such heifers, and it is not attended 

 by any greater cost than the price of a good 

 Short-horn bull. 



Since writing the above, a friend has 

 pointed me to an article in the American 

 Agriculturist, of July, from Mr. Sotham, in 

 which he manifests so little diffidence as to 

 his position, and " flourishes" so belligerent 

 a pen, that he will scarcely thank me for 

 claiming anything for him on the score of 

 circumstances, in case of the short coming 

 of his herd. The boastful manner in which 

 he predicts the future superiority of his 

 yearlings over the Short-horns of the same 

 age, brought up on two cows, iff may judge 

 from the report of those who have seen his 

 yearlings of this spring, eminently prove 

 the hopefulness of man. 



Thomas Thompson. 



Prospect Farm, Sept. 25th, ]843. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Agricultural Societies. 



As an observer of passing events, I have 

 been attracted to some of the meetings and 

 shows of Agricultural Societies. A few 

 years ago, and not an association of the 

 kind was in active existence within many 

 miles of Philadelphia; — now we have the 

 old and respectable Society of this city, the 

 Chester and Delaware, and the New Castle 

 County, or Wilmington Societies, all appa- 

 rently flourishing, and each holding annual 

 displays for the interest and welfare of their 

 several districts. There are, or have been, 

 doubters of the expediency or advantage of 

 such Societies, and especially of their public 

 shows. I am not one of these, but on the 

 contrary, believe they are contributing 

 greatly to the advancement of the agricul- 



