1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



457 



surveyor in the woods for the purposes of a 

 compass. 



AVe remember the remark of some essayist 

 on longevity, that, however diverse, in most 

 respects, may have been the habits of life of 

 those individuals who have lived to a remarka- 

 bly old age, a marked uniformity is observed 

 in the fact that all have been early risers. 

 Our own observation of the sale and use of 

 books of the kind under consideration, justi- 

 fies the conclusion, that however various may 

 be their excellences in other respects, the few 

 popular and profitable ones uniformly have a 

 good alphabetical index. 



With the remark of Daniel Webster» who 

 once said, "I never look at a book that has no 

 index," we close this apology for our unsound- 

 ness of mind on this subject. 



While we do not offer the foregoing as a 

 defence of unjust criticism, we do hope it will 

 be received in extenuation of the apparent 

 severity of a late notice of a most valuable 

 treatise on the cultivation of an important 

 crop, in which prominence was given to the 

 remark that the work was sent out without any 

 index at all. After according in the most gen- 

 tlemanly manner "the utmost freedom to the 

 critic," and admitting that, notwithstanding 

 the careful manner In which the topics of this 

 book were arranged, an "Index might have 

 been an improvement," the author of the work 

 alluded to says, in a private note, — from which 

 we venture to extract : 



"I don't know as I have a right to make any 

 complaint in the premises, but it is not pleasant to 

 find une's well meaning neighbors infer from such 

 a criticism, that one's book is a failure." 



That certainly is an impression which we 

 are sorry to learn our remark produced. We 

 designed simply to remind author and pub- 

 lisher that this fast-reading age demands some- 

 thing to facilitate reference to the topics, facts, 

 &c., which their books contain. If an ingen- 

 ious watch-maker were reminded that he had 

 omitted to furnish a key with his time-keeper, 

 should that be taken as an intimation that the 

 watch was a failure ? 



"But," continues our friend, "all this is the 

 publisher's own matter." Now, were the 

 publisher to write up his objection to our criti- 

 cism, would he not most likely repeat the same 

 remark, with the change of a single word, and 

 say, "But all this is the author's own matter." 



Whose business is it to make up the index ? 



This question discloses the root and origin of 

 the v/hole difficulty. We see that It Is not the 

 author's business. The printer, the binder, 

 the publisher, severally beg to be excused. 

 There is work in it ; tiresome, bothering work, 

 — work that to be hated needs but to be tried. 

 Everybody wants an index ; everybody admits 

 its Importance ; but as It belongs to nobody to 

 make it, the volume that embodies the experi- 

 ence of a life time, though written with care 

 and skill, though printed "with accuracy and 

 despatch," and bound In the finest style of art, 

 disappoints the expectations of all engaged in 

 its production. It don't sell. It is not quoted. 

 It is a sealed book. 



Whose business, then, we repeat. Is It to 

 make indexes, and thus to prevent the further 

 ravings of the editors of the New Englajstd 

 Farmer? 



For the New England Farmer. 

 JERSEY COWS, 



Your article In the last number of the Far- 

 MRR on Jersey cattle, although not giving a 

 pronounced opinion, yet if we are to infer 

 that you endorse the statement of Mr. Flint, I 

 think the best farmers of Plymouth county will 

 take issue with you. So far as regards this 

 section of New England, I believe the con- 

 verse to be the truth : that the Jersey cattle 

 are very well adapted to the wants of Plymouth 

 county farmers, and particularly to the wants 

 of mechanics and small farmers who reside in 

 villages, or whose limited amount of land pre- 

 vents their keeping more than one or two cows. 

 The opinion that they are not as hardy as na- 

 tives, I do not think is borne out by facts. 



It is now about fifteen years since the intro- 

 duction of the Jerseys in this county. There 

 was at that time, among the farmers a wide- 

 spread prejudice against pure blood. How 

 that has faded out, you may judge by the fact 

 that at present there are from four to five 

 hundred pure blood Jerseys In this county, with 

 some thousand grades. One purpose of a far- 

 mer is to raise calves. Does it cost any more 

 to raise a Jersey than a native ? Some of our 

 farmers are sure that the Jerseys look the best 

 on the same keeping. A native yearling is 

 worth from $20 to $30 ; with a little Jersey 

 blood in them, the price runs up to $40 and 

 $50, and a pure blood is worth $75 to $125, 

 It needs no argument to prove the fact that 

 blooded stock is the most profitable to raise. 

 I am almost daily advised by farmers that have 

 not owned pure blood, that their half Jersey 

 cows are the most valuable they ever owned , a 

 fact the purchaser would find out were he to 

 ask the price. Eastern Massachusetts is 

 largely indebted to Mr. Davis of Plymouth, 

 Noyes, Field & Thompson of North Bridge- 



