178 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



XiEGISLATIVE AQRICULTURAIj SOCIETY. 



[Reported for the N. E. Fabmer, by Thomas Bradley.] 

 The eighth meeting of the series before this 

 Society took place at the Representatives' Hall 

 on Monday evening, and a very numerous com- 

 pany were present to hear the discussion. This 

 •was, "What breeds of cattle are best adapted to 

 the agriculture of this Commonwealth ?" 



Mr. Proctor, of Danvers, was called to the 

 chair, and said that he regretted exceedingly the 

 absence of ])r. Loring, who had been expected to 

 take tlie chair, as there was no man in his neigh- 

 borhood, who had the ability or the personal ex- 

 perience in raising cattle, who would have given 

 more information to the meeting than Dr. Loring. 

 Of course, being unexpectedly called upon to 

 preside, he was not prepared to make any lengthy 

 remarks, but he would say that he had had forty 

 years' experience among farmers, although he was 

 not much of a farmer himself. He considered, 

 as all Avould who were desirous for the agricultu- 

 ral prosperity of our State, that the question for 

 discusion was one of immense interest, as cattle 

 were next in importance to the land itself — they 

 are the aids in tilling, and the sources of profit 

 to the farmer, and if there are particular breeds 

 which it is more advantageous to keep than oth- 

 ers, we ought to know it. 



He said that some of the old men present might 

 remember the man on whose farm he first worked 

 — Timothy Pickering, the originator of county 

 agricultural societies, and the father of the State 

 Society. In those days his employer's object was 

 to raise the best stock, and to do this to get the 

 best bulls as well as cows. The speaker's opin- 

 ion was that the best dairy cows were the old red 

 stock of New England, although he knew some 

 advocated the claims of Alderneys, Ayrshires, 

 Devons, and Short-Horns or Durhams, but on the 

 whole, he thought that substantial farmers had 

 yet to be convinced that these were better than 

 Natives. He thought that three-quarters of the 

 cows in the State were Natives or crosses with 

 that description. There were some gentlemen 

 farmers who strongly advocated the claims of the 

 Alderneys or Aryshires, and he mentioned Dr. 

 Loring, of Salem, and Mr. Fay, of Lynn, as of 

 the number, the former gentleman having the 

 finest cattle he ever saw, but if the farmers thought 

 these were the most profitable cows to keep they 

 would keep them. The fact was, the fancy cattle 

 brought fancy prices, and he thought a farmer 

 would not import a heifer at a cost of more than 

 a hundred dollars, when he could get the best of 

 Natives for $50. He considered that the most 

 profitable cattle for the farmer to raise would be 

 those that he made the most from, as the whole 

 6um and substance of farming was to make both 

 ends meet. 



Mr. White, of Petersham, was the next speak- 

 er. He thought that in deciding the question as 

 to which were the best breeds, we should con- 

 sider which had most of the good qualities com- 

 bined. He thought all had their advantages in va- 

 rious parts of the Commonwealth. In his part 

 of the State they thought the Short-Horn, mixed 

 with the Native, were the best breed for general 

 purposes, and for profit they considered them 

 surely so. It is, said he, exceedingly difficult to 

 get pure Native cattle, and the people in his 

 neighborhood were now, and had been for some 

 time, trying to get pure blooded seed stock, and 

 they were doing this rapidly. They had no doubt 

 that for the dairy the Durham breed was the best 

 — for beef it was excellent, while perhaps the 

 Devon was the best for work ; yet not wishing to 

 mix the breeds on their farms, they took the great 

 Durhams. Col. White said that he had stated at 

 a previous meeting of the Society, that he con- 

 sidered dairy farming the most profitable, and in 

 connection with this, had spoken of a friend of 

 his in Barre who kept 16 cows, which had pro- 

 duced last season an average of 440 lbs. of cheese 

 each, which had been sold for 10 cents per pound. 

 This had been circulated in the papers, and he 

 had received a letter (which he read to the meet- 

 ing) from Mr. Reuben Ilaynes, of Barre, stating 

 that a neighbor of his who kept 24 cows had av- 

 eraged the past season 650 lbs. of cheese per cow, 

 which he sold for 10^ cents per pound net cash, 

 while there were two others in the immediate 

 neighborhood who had done equally as well. 



Mr. AVhite said that he considered these cows 

 had returned $88 per head per year, as, apart 

 from the cheese, the calf would bring $12, while 

 the butter would be worth as much more. These 

 cows which Mr. Haynes speaks of, said he, are 

 great Durham cows of a high grade. The speak- 

 er said his neighbors were now raising very fine 

 bulls for the purpose of breeding from, but they 

 had no Ayrshires, and he hoped they would not 

 have any. 



Mr. W. J. BucKMiNSTER, of the Ploughman, 

 said his father was breeding the red Devon, of 

 medium size, and he considered them the best 

 kind, as they are all they were recommended to 

 him to be, and fully meet his expectations. He 

 alluded to the suggestion made by Mr. White, in 

 relation to combining all the best breeds in one 

 animal, and said that it would be almost an im- 

 possibility ; we may, said he, approximate, but 

 never in the lifetime of any one present would 

 the animal be seen. He thought the half blood 

 Devons were decidedly the best for work, as they 

 are very easily kept, and very docile, and travel 

 very well ; and to illustrate this he spoke of two 

 yoke, which had been slaughtered in Belmont a 

 few days since, that would travel so fast as to trou- 



