180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



before he left the store, the keeper sold it again 

 for 32 cents per pound. He liked to see Durham 

 cattle, but they would not suit his locality. 



Speaking of oxen, Mr. Sheldon said he would 

 repeat his idea of what an ox should be, as he had 

 first stated it over 20 years ago in that Hall. He 

 said that you should stand before him and be 

 sure he has a fine hazel eye, large nostrils, long 

 from the eye to the nostril, broad at and above 

 the eyes, rather slim horns, toes straight out be- 

 fore him, straight in the knees, bosom full, back 

 straight and ribs round and wide as his hips. If you 

 find these points, said the speaker, you need not 

 ask of what breed he is, but if you want one, buy 

 him. He said that he had found that a black-eyed 

 ox was not to be depended on, as he will kick 

 and be ugly, while a short headed ox will start 

 quick from the whip, but he will soon forget it. 

 He thought the Ayrshires were free workers, and 

 that the Devons were tough cattle to work, and 

 tough meat to eat. 



Mr. Mouse, of Northbridge, spoke of the Ayr- 

 shires in favorable terms, but as for making but- 

 ter, he thought the Alderneys would make more, 

 "for their inches," as the Englishman would say, 

 than any other breed. He said there was a cow 

 kept in the neighborhood of Boston, that gave 

 over 500 lbs of butter a year, and this had sold 

 for 40 cents, and sometimes, 50 cents per pound. 

 He also spoke in very high terms, of the rich 

 milking qualities of some Alderneys, formerely 

 owned in Worcester, by Mr. Thomas Drew, of 

 this city, and one now owned by Mr. Lincoln, in 

 Worcester. 



Mr. Lapham, of Fall River, said in substance, 

 that in his experience, he had found the Devon 

 breed to be the best, the Ayrshire crossed with 

 the Durham the next best, and he had a Canadi- 

 an cow, at least he thought she was from that 

 country, which was an excellent milkei'. He spoke 

 of the herd of Durhams of the late Mr. Ruggles, 

 of Fall River, which he said gave a large quantity 

 of milk, but it was of poor quality. He consid- 

 ered that the true way to look at this question, 

 was, the best breeds to raise for the public good, 

 as their good demanded quality first, and quantity 

 afterwards. 



Mr. Tower, of Berkshire, being called on, 

 said that it nmst be expected each man would 

 speak in favor of those breeds with which he 

 had done the best. He stated that there were 

 130,000 cows in the Commonwealth, from which 

 15,000,000, lbs. of butter and cheese were annu- 

 ally made, about three times as much of the latter 

 as the former, and there were, moreover, 300,000 

 neat cattle in the State, and it would be strange 

 with these different interests if there were not a 

 variety of breeds, each thought the best. He did 

 not know how it was in Middlesex and Essex, 



but in Berkshire they made excellent cheese, and 

 more of it, than in any other county in the State, 

 except Worcester, perhaps. He had had occasion 

 to see and examine into the dairy business there, 

 and he knew 10 dairymen who for the past 10 

 years had averaged from 500 to GOO lbs. of cheese 

 per season to a cow, showing a return of $60 each 

 cow per year. He spoke of one man, who keeps 

 24 cows and turns everything on his farm into 

 feed, who often averages $70 per cow. In our 

 section, said he, we prefer the Native breed, but 

 some farmers like to mix a little with Durham. 

 There were a few Ayrshire and some English, 

 which latter were always of a bright cherry red. 

 Those who made cheese seemed to think that no 

 breed was so good as the Native with a mixture of 

 one-fourth to one-half Durham. He said that 

 10, 12 or 15 quarts of milk per day cannot be 

 produced without feed in proportion to the milk, 

 and there was a very great difference in cows of 

 the same breed in this respect. He had never 

 seen any large Devons, but they considered Dur- 

 hams better for their work and beef, they mature 

 quicker, and to get good cattle he said it was 

 necessary to pet them and care for them well the 

 first year. The general feed for milch cows, in 

 his county, was one part corn, one rye and another 

 oats, and some add another of buckwheat. Poor 

 hay, he was convinced, would never make a cow 

 give milk, and notwithstanding he liked to see a 

 cow in good condition yet for milking qualities 

 he would take those that looked the worst in the 

 fall, as that was a pretty sure sign they had milked 

 well in the summer. He said that he thought 

 for the wants of Berkshire farmers a cross of the 

 Durham was the best for all purposes. 



Mr. QuiNCY, Jr., of Quincy, said that he always 

 kept the native stock, such as is found in New 

 Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, on his farm, and 

 he got between 500 and 600 quarts of milk per 

 day, and he could increase the quantity 00 quarts 

 on two days' notice by change in feed, but this 

 would have to be done at the expense of the qual- 

 ity. A milkman can as well adulterate his milk in 

 the cow as out, as the whole was done in the feed. 



Mr. Tyler, of Uxbridge, was in hopes to have 

 heard more statements of actual experiments. 

 He obtained from his cows 25,000 quarts of milk 

 per year, which he sold on his farm for 3 cents 

 per quart, and his cows cost him from §12 to $16 

 each in grain, getting the balance of their suste- 

 nance from grazing. He thought they produced 

 him at least $60 each per year. 



The subject for discussion at the next meeting 

 IS "Under draining," and Judge French, of New 

 Hampshire, is expected to preside. 



Carrying the Whip. — There is more in the 

 movements of the driver of an ox-team, and in 



