100 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



sideratiou of this compliauce with the regulation of the society 

 by Mr. Trask, it was decided that the interests of exhiljitors 

 would be promoted, and especially that the work of the com- 

 mittee would be greatly facilitated in future by setting an 

 example of giving this preference. 



Again, in withholding the award from the best milker brought 

 to the attention of your committee, i. e., a Shorthorn owned by 

 Mr. A. N. Merrick of Springfield, as having given twenty-three 

 quarts of milk per day, through the months of June and July, 

 and bestowing it upon Mr, Mattoon's Devons, your committee 

 was influenced by this consideration, namely, that the yield of 

 milk, twenty-three quarts, given by a Shorthorn, which has a 

 reputation for large quantity and poor quality, is not so remark- 

 able as the yield (sixteen and eighteen quarts) of a Devon 

 whose reputation for middling quantity and rich quality is also 

 established. The superiority of this particular family of Devons, 

 their large size, large yield of milk and fine characteristics of 

 the race, could not be overlooked, and though no particular 

 regard in examination was paid to breeds, the committee could 

 not fail to give especial credit to animals so strikingly superior 

 to their race generally. 



The entry in this particular class comprised Shorthorns, 

 Devons and Jerseys in about equal proportions, and a student 

 could have obtained a fair knowledge of the characteristics of 

 these breeds by a close examination of their specimens. Yet- 

 from the absence of certain and minute knowledge in regard to 

 them in the minds of the owners, any extended remarks of their 

 merits are precluded. 



Why must cows be distinguished into those which yield 

 •milk to sell, and those which yield milk to manufacture into 

 butter? In other words, why should we seek for quantity 

 aside from quality ? As the best products of every trade soon 

 regulate our interest, it may confidently be said that the dealers 

 in so essential a nutriment as milk would soon find it easier to 

 supply a smaller quantity of an excellent article, than now so 

 large a quantity of a poor one, with the prospect of a greater 

 profit to themselves through the developing taste of what is 

 good. 



We infer, then, that the true standard of milk cows is one 

 formed of strength and flexibility, that is, a combination of 



