210 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



"The deacription given of my cows by Mr, Neff- 

 liN, ufter he examined them by his improved 

 GuENON system, is in the main very correct, and 

 satisfies me that this is the only reliable system by 

 which cows can be selected." 



We- will tuld that Ghenon's system, whieir has 

 been simplified and made more manifest by Mr. 

 Neffmn, i« principally comprised in the fellow- 

 ing •; 



The hai? of the ho?ned eattle, as is well known, 

 grows downwards, only in the milk mirror which 

 begins at the udder, the downlike, delicate, short 

 and rt^/i^cr-colored hair grows upwards ;• and where 

 the ascending and descending hair meet, they /orm 

 an elevatrd stripe, a vortecc or i-^hirl. This whirl is 

 the real frame or border of the milk mirror, and 

 gives it its shape. This shape is Ikeprincipal mark 

 of the productiveness of the£oic. One shape shows 

 a greater productiveness of milk than another." 



To extend the usefulness of this really impoTtant 

 discovery, Mr. Nefflin has prepared a treatise on 

 the subject, which has just been published by Mr. 

 C. B. Rogers, 29 Market Street, Philadelphia, 

 with a handsomely-engraved chart, containing 

 seventy-eight illustfations of the system — the pe- 

 rusal and possession of which we would recommend 

 to every farmer fur his guide in selecting his dairy 

 stock ; and especially do we commend it to their 

 attention, as the rules laid down are applicable to 

 calves three months old. 



Explanation of the Letters. 



a, a, The greatest breadth of the mirror in all 

 the class(!s and orders. 



b, b, breadth of the upper end of the mirror in 

 the first class. 



c, c, ovals (0) above the teats. 



The cow of the first figure is represented to yield 

 20 quarts a day for nine months ; that of the sec- 

 ond figure Gi quarts a day for four months; and 

 that of the third, 2^ quarts, and no particular 

 time mentioned. 



The Editor of the Country Genilerjwn says, 

 "Guenon's chief rule consists in the breadth of 

 the 'escutcheon,' or space immediately behind the 

 milk bag and contiguous parts, contained within 

 the boundary lines, formed by the meeting of hair 

 growing in opposite directions. The hair on the 

 escutcheon grows upwards and meets with the hair 

 on the other parts. In the very ))est cows, or 

 those which give the greatest quantity of milk and 

 also cuntinue in milk a lon^ time, or tlie year 



round, the escutcheon is very broad and extends 

 upward to the root of the tail. Such animals are 

 very rare, and in ordinary instances and under 

 good feeding and keeping, will yield about sis gal- 

 lons of milk per day. 



In less perfect animals, the escutcheons will be 

 narrower, and frequently will extend only part 

 way to the tail, and so in difierent cows diminish- 

 ing in l)readth until it reaches the medium which 

 is found to exist in the greatest number, by far, of 

 dl milch cows. In poor milkers, it is quite small ; 

 it varies also considerably in shape, but the same 

 general rule applies to all shapes, namely, that 



the area of this escutcheon is an accurate indica- 

 tion of the amount of milk any cow will give. 

 Guenon figures and describes no less than seventy- 

 two different forma and sizes of escutcheons, all 

 exemplifying this general rule, with a few excep- 

 tions, whieh he states, but which we cannot her& 

 point out, and all indicating with much accuracj 

 the quantity of milk given and its quality and du- 

 ratioa." 



From tke Ifew England Fdrmer, 

 MORE ABOUT PLOWING. 



Farmers who look at the plowing of their neigh-' 

 bors, and at cattle show plowing fields, with a 

 critic's eye, notice much difference in the state of 

 the soil where different plows have been used, eveii 

 though they all turn fiat furrows, and all done in 

 a workmanlike manner. A few years ago this wa© 

 more noticeable than at present. We might on. 

 cattle show day go on to the field after all is fin- 

 ished and find some lands turned upside down so 

 smoothly and nicely that it seems ^s though the 

 only change made is, the soil is cut in slices and 

 turned the other side up, lying about as compact 

 as before. Other landa we would find with the 

 furrow slice lying in a slightly rolling position^ 

 highest in the middle, and the soil therefore more 

 loose and crooked than the other. Sometimes a 

 land would be seen which, from some peculiarity 

 about the plow, had the appearance of having beeii 

 finely harrowed. • 



This matter of the condition of the soil in the 

 furrow slice, whether loose and porous or solid, 

 seems not to have attracted due notice from plow 

 judges and writers. They have said much about 

 the position and width of the furrow, but seem to 

 have left its pulverization as a matter of course to- 

 the gentleman with the harrow. Now harrowing 

 on stiff land, newly broken up, I find to be the 

 most hard and wearisome of all spring work, both 

 for team and teamster ; therefore the plow which 

 leaves the soil in a good condition to harrow quick 

 and easy, is plainly far preferable to one which 

 merely turns it and leaves it about as solid as it 

 found it. The Michigan double plow does this to 

 perfection, and is likely to be popular on that ac- 

 count. 



But it is plain by what we have all seen, that 

 the single plow may be greatly improved in this 

 respect. Let our plow-makers care less about the 

 trial with the dynamometer and more about put- 

 ting the soil in good condition ; that is the first and 

 main point, ease of draft is secondary. I believe 

 there is yet plenty of room for improvement in the 

 making of plows, both for breaking up the sod and 

 for working old land. Bachelor. 



March 12, 1853. 



Sheep Shearing Festival. — The third annual 

 Sheep Shearing Festival, by A. L. Brigham, Esq., 

 of West Cornwall, Vt., will take place at the ho- 

 tel of James R. Hyde, in Sudbury, Rutland coun- 

 ty, Vermont, on the first and second days of June 

 next, at 10 o'clock, A. M. From 50 to 100 French 

 Merino Ewes will be publicly sheared, so that all 

 may see and judge of the sheep and fleeces for 

 themselves. Every accommodation will be ren- 

 dered to make the stay of the visitor agreeable. 



