98 



breed are the animals exhibited for the few past years, 

 equal to the best specimens of those twenty years ago. 

 Passing to the Milch Cows, the old Oake's cow stands 

 jet at the head of the list, and I think he would be a 

 bold man, who would say that the average of cows 

 is better than thirty years ago. Passing on to Work- 

 ing Oxen, and calling to mind the splendid teams of 

 Messrs. Perley Tapley of Danvers ; Pv^ogers of Salem ; 

 Porter of Bradford ; George French of Andover, and 

 many others, and comparing them with the j^remium ox- 

 en of the few years past, we find a greater falling oft' 

 than in the other classes. Passing again to Heifers and 

 Steers, we find the falling off in these classes, as mark- 

 ed as in the others. 



If I am right in my opinion, that in scarcely an}' 

 Jbranch of stock has the County held its own, and that 

 in some classes there has been a decided falling oft", the 

 question arises, " why is it so f ' There is scarcely a vil- 

 lage in which pure bred animals of every breed have not 

 been introduced, and brought within the means of every 

 one, but the fact is patent that the stock has not im- 

 ,proved. It has occurred to me we are working in a 

 wrong direction. We have abolished offering premiums 

 for the best bulls, and award them for the best of the 

 different breeds. 



In the northern part of our County we have had 

 Ayrshire, Jersey and North Devon Bulls for thirty years, 

 and if there has been a single superior animal, either 

 cow or ox, that has ever resulted from the cross with 

 either of them, I have not been able to ftnd it. With 

 the Durham, it has been different. In Bradford, Enoch 

 Silsbee introduced Durhams forty years ago, and de- 

 •scendants of them remain to this day, kept on an adjoin- 



