STOCK. 187 



HAMPSHIRE. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



In all ages of the world, and in nenily all countries, cattle 

 husbandry has been a chief source of wealth and prosperity. 

 In this matter our country or State is not an exception. The 

 early settlers brought cattle to Virginia and New England with 

 their first emigrations, and cultivated and propngated them 

 with the greatest care to secure their numbers, though they 

 neglected the essential principles of breeding, for pure and 

 fine stock. These first importations were from the West 

 Indies, England, Holland and Denmark. The Virginia cat- 

 tle were from En'gland and the West Indies ; the New York 

 settlers brought theirs from Holland ; Massachusetts procured 

 hers from England, and New Hampshire hers from Denmark. 

 These cattle were exchanged between the colonists, and, how- 

 ever pure the original importations might have been, they soon 

 became a mixed race of various forms and colors. The Den- 

 mark cattle seem to have left their impress on most of the New 

 England cattle, and it can be determined by their yellowish 

 color. From these Denmark importations came the splendid 

 working stock of the Northern States — a better than which 

 cannot be found in the world. Cattle increased rapidly in 

 the country, and we find that during the last century it was 

 a leading pursuit of the farmers to grow stock and manufacture 

 butter and cheese. At that time dairies numbering from fifty 

 to seventy-five cows were not uncommon. The efforts of stock- 

 growers a century ago were little directed to the growing of 

 stock with care for specific purposes, as for beef, milk, butter 

 or cheese. Later breeders in this country, but more especially 

 abroad, have, by great care and discrimination, developed 

 breeds of cattle unlike their original stock, which are adapted 

 to special localities and purposes, until now we have a stock 

 for milk, for beef, for butter, and for cheese. The Ayrshire 

 is the representative of the milk and cheese breed, the improved 

 Shorthorn is the animal for beef, the Devon and Jersey, but 

 especially the latter, is the breed for butter. The Jersey is 

 probably the best butter cow in the world, but the Ayrshire 

 gives more milk. The milk of the Jersey is not the richest ; 

 but all its oily globules, which form butter, separate quickly 



