132 AMERICAN H€SBANDRY. 



II was by cautiously adopting the principle above 

 laid down that the London dairies have been fur- 

 nished with the superior animals for which they are 

 distinguished. These cows were formerly the York- 

 shire unimproved Short Horns ; and, on account ol 

 their milking qualities, were great favourites with the 

 dairy and milkmen of the metropolis. They had 

 one serious fault, however, and that was difhculty of 

 fattening ; and, after their milk season was past, the 

 dairyman was obliged to dispose of them for what 

 he could get, as feeding them long enough to make 

 beef was with him out of the question. Some of the 

 best of these Yorkshire milkers were crossed with 

 the improved Short Horn bull, and the breed thus 

 produced retain most of the grazing or fattening 

 qualities of the improved, while the excellences of 

 the old breed for the pail remain unimpaired. 

 "Whether milked only a year, or, as is sometimes the 

 case, three or four, as soon as they are dried, they 

 fatten as rapidly as the best of the improved breed. 



We regard the establishment of these principles 

 in regard to crossing (and they have also been adopt- 

 ed with regard to the Devon) as of great importance, 

 and as proving most conclusively the practicability 

 of ingrafting any desirable quality, and then render- 

 ing it constitutional and permanent. As a proof 

 that the improved Short Horns are not inferior in 

 dairy properties, we give the following statement 

 from the work on Cattle published by the Society 

 for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. The exper- 

 iment was made by Mr. Calvert, of Sandysike ; the 

 milk of the cow was put by itself, and an accurate 

 account of the butter produced weekly kept for the 

 lime stated. Each week gave as follows : 7, 10, 10, 

 i2, 17, 13, 13, 13, 15, 16, 15, 12, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 13, 

 12, 12, 13, 14, 12, 10, 10, 8, 10, 9, 10, 7, 7, 7: total, 

 373 lbs. of butter in 32 weeks. She averaged 20 

 quarts of milk a day for 20 weeks ; the greatest 

 quantity in a day being 28 quarts. The pasture was 



