122 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol 



" Diii'haKi Cows as Msikers." 



We have no desire to prejudice the siinda of our 

 renders eiilier for or ngainat any particular breed of 

 uniiiials; bnl ns tbe conductora of an agriculturnl 

 journal, we conceive it to be our dirty le pubiish such 

 facts an I opinions,on both tides of disputed questions, 

 as will enable our renders to decide intelligently lor 

 thcnistlvcs. With this view, we inserted in our 

 April number, the reniarUs of H. Coi.mak on the 

 milking finalities of Diuhatn Cows; and finding in 

 the Albany Cultivator a reply to those remarks by 

 L. F. Allks, we now publish the substance of hia 

 opinions on this subject. 



(Our readers will belter understand the following 

 remarks, by reading them in connection with the ar- 

 ticle on page 63.) 



" In reference to paragraph No, 1 of Mr. Colmnn, 

 I have n-.vi.r seen tbe herd of Messrs. Lathrop, of 

 South HaJley; but if they are wbal Mr. C. repre- 

 sents, they imiBt be beautiful and valuable animals, 

 and a great acquisition to their neij;hborhood; al- 

 though r c.xceedinjjiy regret that he did not jjive the 

 opinions of those genllenion aa to their value and ex 

 colleuce in the Connecticut Valley, and the results of 

 experience concerning ihcra. A detail of their ob- 

 Bcivations would liavo been at least mors satisfactory 

 than a fummary condemnation without a hearing. 



iNir. Cohnan and myself visited the Ohio Compa- 

 ny's lierd, which he mentions, together in company 

 at ButTalo in 183,'), as they were passing through 

 fr'^ni the sea-board l-t Ohio, on their passage out. 

 They were in high condition, aa few or none of the 

 cows were then in m'ilk, and we had no opportunity 

 to jiidjeof their capabilities fur the pail; alihough I 

 have since learned that several of the cows were 

 great and rich milkers. It must be understood, how- 

 over, ilint man; of the English breeders of high bred 

 Short Hums breed only for sale and the shambles, 

 and do nn cultivate the milking qualiilee of their 

 eattle. This ia almo.=t universally the case in Ohio, 

 Kentucky, and ihc Western States, where the dairy 

 tbrma no part of t!ie farming business, and stock ia 

 reared mostly for beef; but from the universal ten- 

 de.icy ol the tnic Short Horns to e.xcel in milking 

 propeitiea, when appropriated to that purpose, I can 

 have no doubt thoy would show aa advantageously 

 over the pail as in the stall. When it is considered 

 aUo, that owing to their scarcity and high value in 

 America, all the iemales are employed in rearing 

 their I alves, and the bulls, instead of being converted 

 into stores for the shambles, are preserved as stock 

 getters, it is evident that comparatively but few ex- 

 amples can be adduced of their real euperiority over 

 thtj common stock of our country no milkers. Still, 

 a sulHcicnt number of specimens have been thown,' 

 both in milk and beef, to demonstrate that in each of 

 these (pialities the improved Short Horna have cxcel- 

 Jed all that has yet Ixien produced of our native 

 American stock. 



In paragraph No. 2, Mr. C. remarks, that ho 

 w.znts pronf of the milking qualities of the Short 

 Honts. Hia own, seven in number, proved inferior 

 milkers, although ho admits that several of them, 

 either of his own or which he had seen, were large 

 milkers; but he believes these, exceptions to the 

 general rule. That hia own cows proved bad milk- 

 ers, proves nothing. What was their blood? Were 

 iheyol /r¥« and improved Short Horn descent? No 

 data is here given for us to judge of their properties in 

 tliis particular, and wo are forced to pasn on to 



Paragraph No. 3. The Cheshire and many other 

 dairy farmers have long had an excellent stock of 

 'ielectcd native cows, which have been propagated 

 with particular regard to their milking properties for 

 many generations. Mr. Colman has traversed the 

 whole State of Massai'hu^etts several times, and out 

 of the whole number of cows that he has seen among 

 many thousands, he presents a list of one hundred of 

 the native sioek which had made from twelve to 

 f mn;en pounds of butter per week. He has also 

 challc-ngeil, both in writing and conversation, the 

 wners of Short Horns to prnvii tbeir dairy qiisiities. 



I doubt whether one hundred thorough bral Short 

 ..lorn Ci)>\acanbe conv( nienily pnuliiced at n'l in 

 *o whole Siatesof New York and M.isnchusetls, to 

 i _w are therein comparison with the common .stock 

 of the coimtry. Nor do I believe five times thai 

 na.Tiber of grade cows of half-blood and upwards, can 

 be easily Ibund in either Btate; but I will venture 

 the as^enion, that wliate such co«T» do c*itt, nt- 



matter what their parentage may be on the native 

 side, if they were directly bred ironi hitjiroccd Short 

 I]''.rn bulls, four out of every live of them have pro- 

 ved 6U|icrior milkers; r.iid at least twenty per cent, 

 better in the aggregate than the ordinary cows around 

 them. And 1 v.'iil also assirt, that of the whole num- 

 ber of titorotigh bred cows in our country, nine out 

 of ten arc excellent, if not stiperior milkers, and 

 twenty-five per cent above the average native cows. 

 To illustrate this mattei', aa 1 have bred a large num- 

 ber of improved Herd Book animals of the highest 

 blood. Within the lapt six years, as well as many grade 

 cattle from the native, Devon, and other breeds, 1 

 will state the rceulis ol my owit experience, and aleo 

 the opinions of sundry other breedera, with such facta 

 as a hasty reference will permit. 



"In ISoT), I bred tenor twelve half-blood heifers 

 from three Devon and several conmion cows of in- 

 ferior quality and appearance. They were sired by 

 my Short Horn bull Favorite, bred near Boston. 

 Mass., whose pedigree will be found at No. 2,(.'Uy, 

 od vol. Code's Herd Book. These heifers proved, 

 without an exception, good milkcrt; much above 

 the average, both for quality and qtinnliiy. In 1S"6, 

 7 and 8, I bred several one-half and three-fourth 

 blood heifers, also from Dcvons and others, which 

 although many of them were eold, have, eo far as 

 I have heard from them, provrd superior milkers. A 

 part of these were sired Ly my Short Horn bull 

 Uevonshire, No. 9Gti, 2d vol. Coato's Herd Book. I 

 also had, during the years from l^^o4 to near the close 

 o.'lSoLl, a herd of full bred improved Short Horna, 

 varying irom 4 to ten milking cows, of which all, 

 v/ith one exception, (and that cow sufTeied an in- 

 jury in her udder vvUen young,) were first rate milk- 

 ers. One cow gaie often thirty quarts of milk per 

 day of good quality. Several of them gave over 

 twenty quarts daily in suinmcr feed, and not one of 

 them gave poor itiilk, or, as the term is, milked hard. 

 They were individually easy, pleasant milkers, with 

 beautiful silky udders, and handtoiue taper teats, 

 and were, taken together, much beyond the average 

 run of native cowa as milkers, I have now a Dur- 

 ham cow that has made her twelve pounds of butter 

 per week, and o/ four full-bloods now in milk, every 

 one is a superior milker. I have aUo five or six half- 

 bloods, all of which are above the average of our na- 

 tive cowa, by twenty per cent, in their milking pro- 

 perties. 



" To corroborate my experience^ I need only men- 

 tion the evidence of such gentlemen as John Hare 

 Powell, of Philadelphia, who asserted to my father 

 that one of his full-blooded Short Horn cowa bed 

 made twenty-two pounds of butter per week for seve- 

 ral weeks in succession; Gov. Lincoln, and Messrs. 

 Welle, Derby, and Dearborn, of Massachusetts, who 

 have been the owners of seveial grade and thorough 

 bred cows; Francis Rotch, Efq. of Butternut?, in 

 ithis State, who has repeatedly testified to the (superi- 

 ority oi /lis Short Horns as milkers, and to his en- 

 tire experience, probably equal, if not supeiior, to 

 that of any other gentleman in America, of the su- 

 periority of the Short Horns in their purity and in 

 their grades, aa milkers. I need not add the names 

 of many other individuals who have repeatedly tes- 

 tified to these facte, as a reference to our agricultura 

 papers !or the last five years will corroborate all thai 

 I remark. And last ol all, I will assert that Colonel 

 Jacpies' fancifully yclcped " Cieampot" breed of 

 milkers, and which 1 siiw in conij'auy with Mr. Col- 

 man hirnsif, are simply a cro>a of a thorough bred 

 Short Horn bull with a native cow, then at Colonel 

 Jacqnca' farm, of good size and appearance, of a deep 

 red color, and wuh an apparent dash of Devon blood 

 in her veins. His bull that he then used was nearly 

 or quite a thorough bred Short Horn, and ell his 

 heifers weie high in that blood. This same stock ol 

 cattle, Mr. C. has himself highly recommetided in 

 one of his ag.ricultural reports, and wo are t.igcthc.- 

 living witnesses of ihe surpassing richness ot tbe 

 milk and cream of these brnnliJiil cows. With i. 

 few selected facts, I will tln;e this tisliiuony: 



In 3d vol, CuUivator, pace l!)l. F.-ancis Clood- 

 good's imported cow (r.be was a Uiirhaiii; rrave, wbeo 

 her calf was two weeks old. tiiiMy-thrre'and a Lnli 

 quan-5 of milk per uny. Her ircd vvr,.s one and d 

 half bushels of brewer's grains per day, with hay. 

 ^ " In vol. 7, same work, jini^e I.3->. Mr. Gowcr's 

 Sl.o.-t llirn cow Doiryiiioicl, li.r ec\cn days gave an 

 iivcr.'igc of thirly-three and a half quarts per day. 



" In New Genesee Farmer, vol. 1, page 143. 

 Samuel Camby's Short Horn cow, E-'.ossom, yielded 

 for seven daya over thirty-five quarts per day, which ■ 

 produced tbirtees and a quarter pountis good butter. 



,.bi 



" At page 149, same vol. John AVclerhull 



Horn cow, four years old, gave from twenty 



tliitiy and n half quarts of- milk per day, and in ( 

 week produced eleven and a half pounds of butt 

 and in another week fifteen pounds. 



" In a Philadelphia paper of liioi). "Col. 

 bert's cow Ifnbella, a pure Short Horn, gave, t 

 seven days, 194 quarts, or near twenty-eight 

 per day, which pioduced fonrieen and thiee-f 

 pounds butter of the finest quality." So much 

 assertion that " Durham cowa are not good mil 



"In paragraph 4, Mr. Colman iiuroducee 

 the distinguished English farmer, Mr. Sheriff, 

 has made the tour of this country. If thie 

 Sheriff, who by the way 1 never heard of befo: 

 as profound in bis remarks upon our country, 

 habitants and their pursuits, as the herd of Ei 

 tiavelers who have hitherto trundled rapidly o' 

 for the purpose, as it would seem, of writing libi 

 books and holding us up to the ridicule of En 

 men at home, hia opinion is little to be regal 

 flis knowlede of fhe progresa of Short Horns 

 own country may be well <stimated, when h 

 marks " that they are the poorest dairy stock in 

 land." To this remark I need only observe, 

 nine out of ten of the intelligent English fan 

 who emigrate to ihia country, and all British pu 

 tions on tbe subject, assert precisely the con 

 for the high grade, and often the thorough bred 

 Horns, have been for many years past takini, 

 place of other breeds for dairy and milking ptirpi 

 in the grazing counties, and near the large towns 

 cities. That he should legret the introduction of 

 thing tending to advance our agriculture, and 'if j,f]. 

 wealth, is altogether natural in an English book.gj v,:((i 

 king tourist. I am only surprised that a gentlem 

 of Ml'. Colman's shrewdnesa should be thus ci^i -.(t 

 deceived. Aa to the " (ijs/mri race of American iia fn 

 tie" to be yet formed, the end of all this is to be m( 

 in the continual eflijrt at blending incungruitiesj 

 ihose cxiicrinientera who strive, without an accurm 

 knowledge of their subject, to produce what is r 

 ready better made up to their hands in the improvi' 

 breeds now extant. Such experimcnta, as they Ij- 

 and learn, have been always abandoned as impractit 

 ble and visionary. Theie is, nor can be, no er 

 thing OS a "distinct American breed," made up 

 all our cattle are fiom selections from all parts of E 

 , nor, if our agriculture is to be, aa we hope, pr ' 



rope 



greeaive in its excellence, is it desirable. Our c« 

 tie should improve with our general agriculiur 

 The lait of Mr. C.'a remark is very just, and coi 

 cedes, as we view it, the gist of what we commeni 



" In ]iaragraph .5, Mr. C. gives us the only rrasc- 

 why Durhama should not become the stock of Nev 

 England, to wit: the poverty of its soil, and the ne| 

 ligence of many of the people! Truly n very broi 

 admission, hardly just, indeed, to the enug farmers 

 New-England, and not at all within the dtsideraiu 

 for which the advocates of Short Horns contend:- 

 improved husbandry, improved care, and improvi . 

 stock. If, upon landa, a thousand acres ol nhii r 

 will scarcely graze a goose, and from which the ve, ; 

 vermin instinctively dee to escape starvation, ll i 

 beautiful Short Horns are to be doomed to pin ■ 

 without care, and without aympstby, I at once adni i 

 that the leas of them the better. Nor do the mie 

 table animals of the native breeds even, which ai 

 doomed to a wretched existence on those " scani 

 pastures," exhibit any signs of thrift as they daily su 

 fer from the "negligent habits of their keepers. 

 True, a long course of neglect and starvation endure 

 by their ancestors, and pcipetnated for many generi 

 tions anterior to their own existence, mayrende 

 their wretchedness more tolerable than it would tht 

 of a belter animal; but what advocate of any sort t 

 improvement ia content to bind himself to suet Wopt 

 less sterility? Did we desire a race of animals iha 

 would Starrs the beat, we could at once make an im 

 portntion from t^e Shetland Islands, and establish 

 Shethi " American breed" that would bid dciiencc t 

 neglect and poverty, and flouiibh amid both frcs>t am 

 desolation! 



But this proposition ia not within the eatcforv o 

 o«r sysleiu. We ho'd, that if land be woiifi ("uliiva 

 old lie at least in a reasonable stA 

 of fertility. It should yield in any event a toleinbl 

 share of its various products under good and kiudlu 

 attention with which to feed well the stock of ihi'l 

 farm. If cows are not to be decently fed, by m 

 means kee]) the Durhams, or any other valuabh 

 breed. Bat if it be intended to give " value lecelvcd,' , 

 to feed well, and pay attentior to your stock, antil 

 there is no other way to mnko a;iy kind of stoob 

 profitable, thrti let its breed be aa food as pcesible, 



