THE STOCK ON OUR FARMS. 27 



In (xeorgia, the number of milch cows is 334,223 ; of work- 

 ing oxen, 73,286 ; of other cattle, 690,019. 



In Kentucky, the number of milch cows is 247,475 ; of 

 working oxen, 62,274; of other cattle, 442,763. 



In Illinois, the number of milch cows is 294,671 ; of working 

 oxen, 76,156 ; of other cattle, 541,209. 



These figures are very significant with regard to the animals 

 most in demand among us. They show the universal impor- 

 tance of the dairy, while they moreover indicate those States 

 in which distance from the market and the low price of pasture 

 lands, combine to render grazing the most convenient, as well 

 as the most profitable branch of farming. In the valleys of the 

 "West and South, and in some parts of New England and the 

 middle States, beef is raised to a profit — every advantage being 

 taken of the best breed of cattle for such a purpose. On the 

 East and on the West, on the North and on the South, in every 

 direction, at the fountain head of our grain crops, before corn 

 has been quadrupled on the original price of the producer by 

 long transportation, and by speculation, there, where the rich 

 valleys and prairies of tlie West offer an abundant and a cheap 

 sustenance for cattle, and w'here a propitious climate economizes 

 food and labor, while all about us beef is growing as it were 

 spontaneously — we can never expect to adopt this as an exten- 

 sive branch of our farming interest. 



It is the dairy therefore which occupies the attention of most 

 of our farmers. Every man who owns land keeps a cow. The 

 milk pail is one of the first utensils provided for carrying on 

 the domestic economy. The rich man is never satisfied until 

 his table is furnished with milk and cream from his own private 

 animal. The poor man finds his establishment incomplete 

 until he has added a shed for his cow ; and his farming is never 

 perfected until he occupies the highway as a pasture, and gleans 

 his winter's store of fodder from the neighboring meadows. 

 Every larger farm has its dairy proportioned to its size and 

 cultivation. As we look abroad over our State, it must be 

 apparent to every intelligent observer, that he will be a true 

 benefactor to our farming community who will improve tlic 

 dairy stock of New England, and bring it to as high a degree 

 of uniformity as possible, making all due allowance for diversi- 

 ties of climate and locality. 



