MILCH COWS. 97 



its golden hue to our butter. It is well understood that one or 

 more of these Jersey cows should be present in every herd, at 

 least where butter is one of the principal objects in view. In 

 fact no breed seems to have sprung into greater favor within 

 the last few years. Large herds of this breed of cattle arc still 

 rare. 



Probably that exhibited by Mr. Hurd, of Concord, will vie in 

 point of numbers and excellence with any other in the country. 

 And in this connection the committee cannot but express a 

 regret that the fine herd of Jerseys, belonging to Mr. Reed, of 

 Tewksbury, were not on exhibition. .The committee also regret 

 that they did not have the pleasure of seeing the fine herd of 

 Ayrshires, belonging to George W. Lyman, Esq., of Waltham, 

 as these two herds would have added greatly to the interest of 

 the show. 



In this county,' the Ayrshire cow for milk, and the Jersey for 

 butter, are exactly adapted to our scant pastures and climate. 

 The Middlesex farmer, your committee are proud to say, houses 

 his cattle, as a general rule, in the most sumptuous manner. 

 Our barns are generally all that they should be, furnishing 

 warm and comfortable shelter to the live stock in w^inter. 



In a r.eport on the subject of milch cows, (foreign breed,) 

 wiiich the chairman of your committee had the honor to sub- 

 mit to the Middlesex North Agricultural Society last year, he 

 said : " The barns of New England form a most important fea- 

 ture in their agriculture. Thousands are annually built on the 

 most approved plan, for the storing of hay and other crops, and 

 for the shelter of cattle and the saving of manure. In this 

 Commonwealth alone, in 1860, there were 84,327 barns, an 

 increase of more than ten thousand during the ten preceding 

 years." Our farmers now generally treat their cattle in the 

 matter of feed, shelter, &c., as they should be treated. 



They cannot own vast herds, like the stock-growers of the 

 West ; their farms arc too small ; but their stock, though few in 

 numbers, can be brought by careful breeding, to a high degree 

 of perfection. As has been said, the production of milk is the 

 great object with us, although, of course, it is desirable that our 

 cows when given up as milkers should take on flesh readily. 

 Mr. Flint, in his able and exhaustive work on the Milch Cow, 

 has gathered and digested all the information extant in relation 

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