ANDHOR T I CULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BV JOSEPH BRECK & CO.. NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET: iA^::^:.:^Z:;rvi::^„:,:^Z^^;^^^ 



VOL. XXI.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1842. 



N. E. FARMER, 



From the Albany CuUiTator. 



" NATIVE" AND OTHER CATTLE. 



Mcssm. Onylord ^- Tucker — I liavo read, with 

 great ir.fcrest, tlie first volume of tlie Transactions 

 of the New Vork Agricultural Society; and with 

 none of the papers therein contained have I been 

 more pleased, than with the one on " Neat Cattle," 

 by Henry S. Randall, in which are many useful 

 suggestiuns in regard to the improvement of our 

 cattle, and the production of a breed or breeds 

 suited to our climate and purposes. 



Mr R. fears that many are '' too prone to under- 

 rate our native stock," which he thinks " has pro- 



which should show nil the principal points inshap, 

 and color of an improved Short Horn, as a speci- 

 men of the " native stock," as there is in takiiig 

 this ox as such. An example of this kind would 

 protably be regarded by the advocates of the Short 

 Horns as not altogether fair. 



Your reviewer, Commentator, in the Oct. No. of 

 the Cultiviitor, in hig remarks on Mr Sotham's ex- 

 pression, given above, says Mr Bakewell made a 

 similar e.xperiment in England to that proposed by 

 Mr Randall, "and it is presumable with no better 

 cattle to begin with than Mr Randall might proba- 

 bly fi^d among what is called the 'native breed' in 

 New York." Now it may be pretty near true that 

 duced animcls that would suffer little by comp'ari- I ^'''^^ '*'''" began to breed with cattle which were 



son with those of any other breed." In some 

 remarks on Mr Randall's ideas, by Mr \Vm. H. 

 Sotham, in the Sept. No. of the Cultivator, is the 

 following rather uttra expression : " He [Mr R.l 

 may eeiect the best [of the native stock] if he 

 chooses, and breed them until lie is of the age of 

 man, and my word for it, he will never breed a 

 beast tiiat a good judge would condescend to put 

 his iiand upon." 



There r.iuy be a difficulty, T confess, in deciding 

 auch a proposition. In the first place, the premises 

 shouUi be understood and admitted by the parties. 

 What, then, is "native stock f Here is the grand 

 point; and they may aa well dispute about the 

 merits of British sheep, or any other species of ani- 

 mal which embraces vatieties very widely different 

 in their characters, as to attempt to decide that 

 matter until this point is settled. 



If Mr Randall is to be allowed, (and this is ob- 

 viously hij intention,) to take such animals as Mr 

 Rust's fat ox as specimens of the scrub or " native" 

 breed, it appears to me he would be under no ne- 

 cessity of breeding till he is three score years and 

 ten, before he could " produce an animal that a 

 good judge would condescend to put his hand up. 

 on." While on my late trip to the East, I saw 

 this ox of Mr Rusl'a. He is truly a most superb 

 animal. He has, both in shape and color, all the 

 leading characteristics of a Hereford ; his should- 

 ers are well set, his chime full, back short, loin and 

 hips very wide, rump long, legs clean and sinewy, 

 and ho is considerably heavier than any other ani- 

 mal I ever saw of so little bone and offal. At the 

 time I saw him, Mr Rust thought his weight could 

 not be less tjian 3,700 pounds ; and it had been as- 

 certained by repeated weighing, that his gain was 

 at least three pounds per day. Notwithstanding 

 bis immense weight, he was, from the justness of 

 his proportions, very active. When lying down, 

 he would get up as quick as a sucking calf. 



I saw the man who said he raised this ox ; and 

 the history which he gave of him was, that the bull 

 which sired him was ''part Htreford." In this, 

 both he and Mr Rust agreed. I cannot see why 

 tliis statement need be doubted ; for according to 

 in account which Mr Bement has published, some 

 Heretords were introduced into this part of the 

 »untry several years ago. But history and tradi- 



tion out of the question, it appears to >ne there near Coventry, distinguished himself as a breeder 

 would be as^much propriety in tnlung an ammal He too worked upon Sir Thomas Gresloy's stock 



He was at considerable trouble in procurino- bulls 

 from Lancashire and Westmoreland ; and he ia 

 said to have had the best stock of cattle then 

 known." At pages 191, 192. it is said, " improve- 

 ment had hitherto been attempted to be produced 

 by selecting females from the native stock of the 

 country, and crossing them with males of an alien 

 breed. Mr Bakewell's good sense led him to im- 

 agine that the object might be better accomplish- 

 ed by uniting the superior branches of the same 

 breed, than by any mixture of foreign ones. On 

 this new and judicious principle he started. He 

 purchased two Long Horned heifers from Mr Web- 

 eter, and he procured a promising Long Horned 

 bull from Westmoreland. To these and their pro- 

 geny he confined himself." « • * .. jj^ny 

 years did not pass before his stock was unrivalled 

 for the roundness of its form, the smallness of its 

 bone, and its aptitude to acquire external fat, while 

 they were small consumers of food in proportion to 

 their size." 



not better than those which some have called native 

 in this country ; but from the best evidence to be 

 had, it seems to me certain, that the animals with 

 which Bakewell began to breed, were not only very 

 good in themselves, but belonged to a race whose 

 superior excellence had been long acknowledged. 

 That under his master mind they attained still 

 higher improvement, is neither denied nor doubted ; 

 but that the originals were altogether superior to 

 our common cattle, is plain, if we admit testimony 

 on this subject. 



The first gi-eat advantage which Mr Bakewell 

 possessed over any one who might attempt a simi- 

 lar experiment, confining himself to the common 

 cattle of this country, was the /are;/ character of his 

 stock. Their leading points had been the same, 

 without admixture, as far a s we learn, f.)r ages. I 

 Hence he might calculate on a certain transmis- 

 sion of the qualities possessed by those he first 

 selected, hereditarily, to their offspring. The ori- 

 ginals of our common cattle have been brought 

 from almost every country and district from which 

 this country has ever received emigrants. These 

 animals, so heterogeneous in their character, have 

 generally been bred in an indiscriminate, haphaz- 

 ard manner, until they have, in most cases, lost all 

 marked re.semblance to any distinct breed. 



Youatt, in the work on British Cattle, gives a 

 very interesting account of the stock from which 

 Mr Bakewell made his original selections. Under 

 the head of the " Ijong Horns," he says ; "In the 

 district of Craven, n fertile corner of the West 

 Riding of Yorkshire, bordering on Lancashire, and 

 separated from Westmoreland chiefly by the west- 

 ern moor lands, there has been from the earliest 

 records of British agriculture a peculiar and valua- 

 ble breed of cattle." At page 189 is given a por- 

 trait of a Craven bull, " supposed to bear about him 

 many of the characters of the old breed." The 

 portrait conveys an idea of a most excellent ani- 

 mal ; one of the best in the book ; the body and 

 limbs indicating surprising strength, with a rich, 

 mellow coat of hair. 



In 1720, it is stated that a blacksmith by the 

 name of Wilby, commenced the work of improving 

 the Craven cattle, with some cows which he pro- 

 cured from Sir Thomas Gresley. "Soon after 

 this," says Mr Youatt, 



The object in making these quotations is to show 

 that the ancestors of Mr Bakewell's stock had been 

 considered excellent long before he began his ca- 

 reer as a breeder. 



In what I have said, I disclaim any intention to 

 "underrate the native stock." but have been influ- 

 enced only by a wish that the public may be set 

 right in matters of fact. 



SANPORD HOWARD. 

 ZanesviUe, Ohio, Oct. 8, 1842. 



lowing 



t QUERIES. 



The Albany Cultivator propounds the folio 

 among other queries to farmers: 



" What experiments have you made the past 

 year in husbandry .' and what has been the result ? 

 If favorable, you should let it be known that oth- 

 ers may practice the same methods; ifunfavora- 

 ble, that others may escape the error, or be saved 

 useless expenditure. Every farmer may do much 

 in the way of experiment, to advance the cause of 

 agriculture, if they are well and carefully conduct- 

 ed, and the results givsn to the public. 



"Are your children at school.' and what have 

 you done to provide for them and for yourself, the 

 means of acquiring that knowledge so essential to 

 success in life .' On this point negligence is a 

 crime; parsimony is ruin. If you are able to do 

 nothing else for your children, you are at least 

 able to secure them a competent education. The 

 State guarantees the means of this ; it is for you 

 only to use them. Destitute of education, want- 

 ing ordinary intelligence, the man enters upon life 

 with all the chances against him. He may suc- 

 ceed, but the odds are fearfuh Let it be impress- 

 ed on the mind that in this free country, intelli- 

 gence is better than wealth." 



Time, the cradle of hope, but the grave of ambi- 

 tion, is the stern corrector of fools, but the salutary 

 Mr Webster, of Canley, ' counsellor of the wise. — Lacon. 



