322 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



only use superior animals to breed from, but reserve for him- 

 self the better portion of their progeny. If a heifer shows an 

 aptitude to fatten easily, she is generally considered worth 

 more for the shamble^ than the dairy, and, consequently, goes 

 into the hands of the' butcher; while some hard-hided one, 

 which could not easily be fattened, is reserved for the milk 

 pail. 



The opinion is very prevalent among farmers, that a heifer 

 which takes on flesh rapidly will not make a good milker. 

 Perhaps the fact that most good milkers become thin of flesh 

 when in full milk leads to this opinion. But such cows generally 

 fatten quickly when dry. It would seem that the fact of a 

 heifer's fattening easily should lead to the belief that she 

 would make a good cow for butter, her aptitude to fatten show- 

 ing her system to be such that all the carbon of her food is 

 not required for heat and respiration. 



G. C. Munsell, Chairman. 



HAMPDEN. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



The competitors for premiums of this description will ordi- 

 narily be found to be resident within a few miles of the place 

 of exhibition, as it is undoubtedly true that driving cows a 

 great distance is always attended with hazard, and not unfre- 

 qucntly productive of manifest injury. According to our rec- 

 ollection, all the cows exhibited were from three towns. 



It might be desirable to stimulate a farmer in Chester or 

 Brimfield to raise and keep good cows, even although he should 

 feel unable to drive or transport them to a central point of the 

 county. Might not the directors properly be authorized to ex- 

 amine, by some one or more of their number, all milch cows 

 outside of an area of eight miles from the place of exhibition, 

 and a class of premiums bo provided for them ? It strikes us 

 that such an arrangement would have a direct tendenc}', not 

 only to improve the character of the mothers of the unborn 

 calves that may hereafter be found in Holland, Russell, Tol- 

 land, and Wales, but also to increase the list of members from 



