42 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



the one. and it has made the trotting horse, which is peculiar to the 

 United States, almost equal to what the running horse was prior to the 

 formation of this Jockey Club. This only applies as an illustration for 

 the subject on hand thus far. The race horse, it is true, comes from a 

 foreign breed, but the trotting horse has been developed therefrom by 

 selection and careful breeding. This shows that where man bends his 

 energies to the development of cattle for any particular quality he is 

 sure to succeed. With similar rules applied in the breeding of even 

 our scrub cattle, I know whereof I speak when I assert that they will 

 develop qualities, as beef and milk yielders, equal to those possessed 

 by the imported stock. 



CARE OF CATTLE IN EUROPE AND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



As a whole the European people take more interest in their stock 

 than do the people of the United States, and there are more induce- 

 ments in this regard offered in the former than in the latter. The 

 English hold a dozen agricultural or cattle shows to our one, offering 

 thousands of dollars to our half dollars in premiums, and it is no marvel 

 that the cattle are far superior, that the farmer in England should 

 draw closer to his cattle than does the American farmer to his, treat 

 them kindlier, and give them better dispositions. 



Stock-raising, by common consent, seems to have fallen to the lot of 

 the farmer, whereas it should be a special calling; for if it is not an in- 

 terest of importance enough for the exercise of special talents, it certainly 

 posseses so many phases that some of them suffer from the divided at- 

 tention which the farmer is compelled to give his other interests. The 

 size and betterment generally of a grain of corn might be much increased 

 if the farmer would make corn a specialty, and thoroughly understood 

 the subject of corn-growing in all its bearings. In having so many in- 

 terests on his hands one or all of them must suffer. 



It is a well-recognized fact in Belgium, and in Europe generally, where 

 interest of the keenest kind is taken in cattle, that there is nothing so 

 injurious to a cow giving milk as to run her, or excite her in any manner, 

 and yet how frequently are reckless boys, with their dogs and whips, 

 sent to drive the cattle home in the United States. 



These things, and hundreds of others equally important, never trouble 

 the brains of the American farmer, because his head is full of other mat- 

 ters connected with his calling. How many farmers in the United States 

 can tell how much hay, or other food, is given to each cow during the 

 year and the cost of the same, and the return therefor in milk, butter, 

 and cheese in fine, does he know if each cow is paying for her outlay, 

 and if so, how much ? Perhaps a small number could intelligently an- 

 swer these questions. It is entirely different in England and on the Gon- 

 tinent. There and here a farmer knows his cows as well as if they were 

 a portion of his family. Rebalances his accounts regularly and knows, 

 at all times, how much he is losing or gaining by each cow. He can tell 

 you the food best adapted to each cow's taste, and which will contribute 

 most to her milk yield. 



He knows her exact age, knows when it is best for her to breed, and, 

 above all, the care and attention she demands at his hands, and he 

 gives it to her, knowing, as he does, that by so doing she will return all 

 a hundred-fold to him in the shape of milk. Milk is the first and chief 

 aim and end of a cow's subsistence, and beef the last. If she receives the 

 best nourishing food, is not exercised too violently, and is properly 

 cared for, she will yield a rich supply of milk for a half a dozen years or 



