STOCK. 163 



lighted the eyes of a milk raiser. Of its effect on a milk con- 

 sumer, we cannot speak so confidently, as we had no opportunity 

 of testing the quality of the milk. The percentage of cream 

 given by the lactometer at the end of milking, would not afford 

 much indication of the character of the milk when it reached 

 the consumer, and many cans of the " eighteen per cent, cream," 

 would be a fortune to a dealer in milk, if it did not " make fat 

 the eater." The Committee awarded Mr. Barrett the premium 

 on Ayrshires. 



In deciding between the two native or grade herds, we were 

 chiefly influenced by the fact that Mr. Smith's herd were bred 

 by him, and wholly of grade Ayrshire and Durham. This seems 

 to us the real object of the society's offer of a premium. It 

 never could have been intended that a cattle dealer, who by skil- 

 ful purchase or lucky trade, should get together half a dozen 

 cows of any or all breeds, or select that number from his stock, 

 and keeping the measurement of their highest flow, take this 

 herd premium simply because he happens to own the six best 

 cows shown together at the exhibition. This would furnish no 

 information as to their breeding, and would only indicate the 

 luck or skill of the owner in his trade. The premium alone 

 would pay quite a percentage on the investment, and the utility 

 to the society or the community would be doubtful. We pre- 

 sume it was intended to induce experiments in raising a breed 

 or grade of cows adapted to the wants of the owner — and by the 

 successful results of these to furnish an example for others to 

 follow, or improve upon. Such a herd have a value both to the 

 owner and to the agricultural community, far beyond the chance 

 selection in the markets of equally good cows, as the character 

 and qualities of the herd can be perpetuated or improved, and 

 such a herd alone really deserves the premium. Acting on this 

 idea, we awarded the premium to Mr. Smith's herd, even if the 

 statements of the milk produced and the percentage of cream 

 made by his competitor did indicate a better result. Mr. Smith's 

 cows looked finely, and were a stock of which any farmer might 

 well be proud, especially when they had all been bred on his 

 farm, and he had good reason to believe he could increase their 

 number and their good qualities as occasion might require. 



J. S. Keyes, Chairman. 



