340 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



laboratory of Science, may not the husbandman, too, participate 

 in the stirring events of the age, and, by the aid of science and 

 practical experiments, learn to reclaim his farm, and produce 

 two spires of grass where but one grows now ? 



Most respectfully submitted, 



Justus Tower, Chairman. 



Lanesboeo', October 26, 1854. 



HOUSATONIC. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



The subject presented for the consideration of this commit- 

 tee is one of vast and increasing importance to the farmers of 

 Berkshire County ; and we could wish it had fallen to abler 

 hands to decide its merits, and present the subject in its true 

 lidit before the members of this association. 



Although we cannot compete successfully with our neighbors 

 of the vast west in the raising of grain to any great extent, 

 yet we may rely upon the productions of the cow, and find a 

 ready market at home for our improved stock, butter and 

 cheese. These facts, we doubt not, are understood by most 

 farmers ; and hence the great increase in the number of cows 

 within the limits of this society. • But it is evident that there 

 are other facts, which, although known, are not applied and 

 brought into practice to such an extent as the importance of 

 the subject demands. We refer to the difference in value be- 

 tween a good cow and an ordinary one, and the importance of 

 breeding from stock possessing high milking qualities ; and it 

 will not be disputed that, while a good cow may have a bad 

 calf, a poor cow is much more likely to have one. "We will not 

 attempt to prescribe rules or define marks for the breeding 

 and selection of cows, but venture the assertion, that, no indi- 

 vidual who has observed closely, and has bred and selected 

 with reference to good qualities, has failed to find his reward. 

 Neither do we attempt to give the comparative value of a good 

 cow and an ordinary one ; but usually the difference in value is 

 far more than the difference in price. 



