HEIFERS. 187 



tail slim, hind-quarters heavy, hips broad, straight back, fore- 

 quarters lighter than the hind, neck slim, horns small and near 

 together, eyes large and clear, nose long and slim. In size we 

 prefer medium. A fine-boned animal, rather under-sized, is 

 preferable to a large, coarse, overgrown one. 



We would also urge it upon all who rear calves to provide 

 themselves with some kind of root crop for their young stock, 

 particularly through their first winter. We prefer it to grain, 

 as it keeps them in a good, healthy condition. Of four which 

 we fed last winter, three had one-half peck each, per day, of 

 turnips, the other, a pint of corn-meal daily ; those fed on tur- 

 nips came out in the spring in much the best condition, both as 

 to size and flesh, to say nothing of the satisfaction experienced 

 in seeing good, thrifty young stock, and if a farmer finds no 

 pleasure in that, he may safely conclude he has mistaken his 

 calling. 



Your Committee would also suggest some improvement in 

 the accommodations for exhibiting heifers. As some of them 

 are now placed in the pens with other stock of an entirely 

 different class, and many of them at some distance apart, there 

 is no chance for comparison, and it is very difficult to decide 

 upon the particular merits of each individual animal. We 

 would therefore recommend that, in future, they may be located 

 together, either in pens or stalls expressly for their accom- 

 modation. 



We would also recommend that each breed should have a 

 grade of premiums. As it now is, the first premium is to be 

 awarded to the best animal, irrespective of breed. Now, each 

 member of the Committee is of course prejudiced in favor of 

 the particular breed that thrives best and is the most profitable 

 on his own farm ; and where each member is in favor of a 

 different breed the decision is necessarily biased, and that ani- 

 mal takes the first premium whose champion happens to possess 

 the most fluent tongue, or is the most tenacious of his own 

 opinions. 



There were many fine animals of this class on exhibition, 

 which showed good care both in their breeding and keeping, 

 but which failed to take a premium because tliere were not 

 premiums enough offered ; and if the suggestion that we made 

 above were acted upon, it would give competitors a better 



