THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 3. 



IMPROVED STOCK. 



Ayrshire, Durham and Native. I aonniieference whatever, I nioy be allowed to sny tbat 



Lewis i\ Allen, Esq., of Buffalo, in an elabornle ^^ ,„y opinion, intelligent fnrmeie, who have valuable 

 article in the Albany Cultivator of May or June last, animals, owe it to the ngiicultural c<inim\inity to make 



or month, or three months, as would warrant me in I than that from my other cow. The trial was made 

 BpeXnVwith more conrtdertce. Without any per- with great care and the correctreBs of the resul may 



which I have not at hand, waa pleaaed to attack eome 

 remarks which I had made on the eubject of Dairy 

 Stock at one of the Agricultural Meetings held in 

 Boetou the last winter. Many of my friends said on 

 reading the piece, "You will answer Mr. Allen, 

 certainly?" But I said no 1 J am not about to take 

 oflf my coat and turn up my sleeves and go to fisticutl's 

 with an old friend. 1 grant that the letter njipeared 

 very civil, and had several gentle passages in it ; but 

 these fine touches reminded me of the remark of a 

 Frenchman in relation to another person in n case 

 somewhat similar. "Ahl bien ; he von ver civil 

 man ; he make von, two, tree bow ; he say, perlez 

 vouB, monsieur, and (crossing his fingers over the 

 back of hie neck) then he cut you ofli behind." I 

 saw the drift of the letter. My friend Allen's coffee 

 was not sweetened that morning, and he determined 

 to challenge me to single combat. He began by put- 

 ting me in the opposition. But I am not opposed to 

 him in this matter ; I never have been ; I am not the 

 enemy or undervaluer of the Improved Durham Short 

 Horns, but I say only that icc want the proof ihal they 

 arc the best milking or Dairy Stock among us ; and 

 that they are the stock best adapted to the New Eng- 

 land pastures and the habits of our New England 

 farmers. Mr. Allen's statement that Mr. Powell had 

 a Short Horn Cow which had made 22 lbs. of butter 



such trials as will fully test their distiuguishiug prop- 

 erties. All coiijeelurc and guess-work in this case 

 oufhttobe utteily r(jcctcd. The trial of a day or 

 wctk is a small matter, and will seldom warrant any 

 confident conclusions. In the case of a valuable cow 

 or race of cows, the age and condition of the cow 

 Aould be stated, her breed and pedigree, her feed and 

 treatment, with the utmost particularity ; the times 

 of milking, and the amount yielded for one, or two, or 

 three months, in pounds and in cubic measure ; the 

 actual amount of butter or cheese produced in the time, 

 and the quantity of milk and of cream required to 

 make a pound of butter or of cheese. There may be 

 some trouble in making these observations and experi- 

 menlB, but the satisl'action of this exact knowledge is 

 an ample compensation lin- any trouble which it might 

 cost. I am compelled to say, that in respect to most 

 of the statements which men make in regard to their 

 stock, unless they are founded upon some such exact 

 measurements and observations continued for a length 

 of time, no reliance can be placed upon them. 



Another breed of cows has been introduced into the 

 country, fromtwhich great improvements in the dairy 

 have been anticipated. These are the Ayrshire, the 

 most celebrated dairy stock of Scotland. The Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural Society, with that eminent 

 liberality and single desire to advance the agricultural 

 interests of the community which have always marked 

 all the proceedings of their board, imported an Ayr- 

 shire bull and three cows. The gendeman empowered 

 to select Ihem was well qualified for that object, and 

 took particular'pains to carry the patriotic designs of 

 the society into effect. 



The hull has been placed successively in different 



be rehcd on. The Aviehire cow has been kept • 

 my other stock and iaied no better than the rest ; stdl 

 she appears in better thrift than ony of my other cows, 

 and endures the cold of winter quite as well. She has 

 given me three fine calves ; the first a bull, which I 

 now have, a very fine animal ; the second I sent into 

 ounty of Essex, and is owned by Mr. Marlond of 



, , . , , .counties of the Slate,' and the cows distributed with 



per week, is, I apprehend, a mistake, as no such case jUfl-^nji^t individuals, P. C. Books, of Medford ; Elias 

 liaa been given to the public by Mr. Powell within my phinney, of Lexington, and Daniel Webster of Marsh- 

 knowledge, and he probably refers to the oow Belina, 1 field. 

 of which I have given an account in the subjoined 



John P. Gushing, of Watertown, whose public 



I spirit and regard for the agricultural interests of the 



notes. Now I have only to add that 1 am a peaceable j.'(,„„,fy ij„ve been dieplayr.d in the management of his 



man, and do not accept my friend Allen's challenge ; ] farm, in the importation of some of the best animals 



but I have gone to work quietly to collect all the facts 

 on the subject, which I could find ; and laying them 

 honestly before the formers, they, as good men and 

 true, will I have no doubt render an honest verdict. 

 Now gentlemen I stand together and barken to your 

 evidence. H. C. 



1 the JgrkuHure of Mas- 

 uress.) 



I>airy Stock. 



" Middlesex county, though very poorly suited to 

 grazing, and, on account of the high prices of jill cattle 

 feed, not at oil adapted to the raising of stock, has yet 

 eeverol individuals of intelligence and pubUc spirit 

 engaged in this patriotic object. 



Some years since, (about 1630,) a number of gen- 

 tlemen associated for the purpose of establishing a 

 stock farm, and purchased in Chorlestown a valuable 

 properly for this object. " It was proposed to estab- 

 lish a stock farm in the vicinity of Boston, devoted to 

 the intportant objects of breeding and rearing the best 

 breed of horses, neat cattle, sheep and swme ; the re- 

 ceiving and selling on commission all kinds of live 

 stock ; and combining also with these the business of 

 agriculture and horticulture, upon the most approved 

 and economical system. This farm consisted of 222 

 acres, was made up of a variety of soils, and waa well 

 adapted to the purposes either of summer or winter 

 feeding of animals, yielding a great quantity both of 

 English and salt hay." Samuel Jaques, a man well 

 experienced and of excellent judgment in these mot- 

 ters, took the farm with this view ; and has succeed- 

 ed, by judicious selection and crossing, in rearing a 

 milking stock of extraordinary valuable properties for 

 the dairy. Of this stock I gave a full account in my 

 Second Report, and, as far as appears, there is no rea- 

 SDn to withdraw the commendation there bestowed on 

 them. Their cheese properties have not been tested ; 

 nor have I been able to ascertain the quantity of milk 

 afforded by them in any given time ; hut the quality 

 of their milk for butter is not surpassed by any ani- 

 mals which have come under my observation. There 

 can be no doubt that cheese from their milk would 

 correspond to its superior quality. Mr. Jaques in- 

 forms me thot they still maintoin their excellent char- 

 acter in this respect. My only regret is that I have 

 not been able to induce him to make such continued 

 experiments of their yield in milk or butter, for a week, 



from abroad, and the gratuitous distribution of their 

 progeny among the formers with a view to improve 

 their stock, has likewise imported some of the finest 

 animals, which skill and money could select, of the 

 Ayrshire stock. 



It does not lie in my way to go into a history of this 

 stock in this place. They are generally agreed to be 

 the best dairy stock in England. They are reputed 

 to yield large quantities of milk and produce large 

 amounts of cheese and butler ; besides keeping them- 

 selves in good condition and being easily mode ready 

 for the butcher. The cows are eminently beautiful. 

 1 n size, however, and symmetry, they ore decidedly 

 inferior to the improved Durham ebon horns ; but 

 there is good reason to think them a hardier race of 

 animals. 



From some of the gentlemen to whose care the so- 

 ciety's ouimals were committed, I have been unable 

 to obtain as full information as is desirable. Mr. 

 Webster's foreman, in his absence, informed me that 

 the cow was quite superior as a milker. Mr. Brooks 

 says. " My cows give about the same quantity each, 

 biit I cannot boost of their doing like many which I 

 have heard of^ My Ayrshires do not, 1 think, give 

 more than thirteen or fourteen quarts at best, and the 

 milk no richer than others with the same feed. It is, 

 however, a valuable race in our State, as doing well 

 in our common pastures and not running to fat like 

 some. They are very gentle." 



Mr. Phinney, in a recent letter, thus writes : — " I 

 have given the Ayrshire stock a |iretiy fair trial, con- 

 sidering my limited means, — enough however to sat- 

 isfy me of their valuable dairy properties, mid of their 

 capacity for enduring the cold winters and short keep 

 of the northerly part of the country. In the month ol 

 June, 1641). I selected from twenty cows my beet na 

 tive cow, for the purpose of making a trial with my 

 Ayrshire cow as to the quantity of butter each would 

 make. My old pastures, for I had then done little to 

 improve them, afforded but a very short bite of grass. 

 These two cows rgn with my other stock, and had no 

 other food than what they could get in these dry pas- 

 tu res. 



The quantity o( milk from the Ayrshire was not 

 greater than that from my native cow ; but the Ayr- 

 shire made nine and three-quarter pounds of liuttcr in 

 o week, while the notive cow in the same time made 

 but eight and a half pounds ; besides, the quality of 



Audovcr, and at the cottle show in that county in 1840, 

 the first premium oiTered by the Slate Society on 

 bulls was aworded to him. The third isp hiefer, now 

 little more than a year old, ond is a beautiful creature. 

 Upon the whole, from the little experience 1 have hod, 

 I eanuot doubt that the Ayrshire, for its dairy proper- 

 ties, is greatly superior to the Durham for this part of 

 our country." 



•Mr. Gushing has been kind enough to favor mo 

 with on ctoct account of the produce of four Ayrshire 

 cows on his farm for the times therein specified, which 

 1 here subjoin : 

 1. Memoranda of Milk given by imported Ayisldre 



cuw Flora, for one year, 1837. 

 From 17ih ol May to Ist of June, 608 lbs. 



" Istof June tolst oi' July, .1192" 



" 1st of July to 1st of August, 1064" 



" 1st of August to Ist of September, 841" 



" 1st of September to Isi of October, 718" 

 " 1st of October tolst of November, 489" 

 " Ist of November to Istof December, 409" 

 " Istof December to Ist olJonuory, 432" 



" Istof January to Ist of February, 4-12" 



" 1st of February to let of March, 383 "' 



" 1st of March to Istof April, 484" 



" Istof April to Istof May, 419" 



I " 1st to the 20th of May, 242" 



7728 lbs. 

 1 At 10 lbs. per gallon, 772 gallons. 



2. Mcmorandu of Milk given by imported Ayrshire 

 cow Juno, for one year, 1837. 



From May 23d to June Ist, 243 lbs. 



" June lat to July Ui, 796 " 



" July Ist to August 1st, 845 '' 



" August 1st to September 1st, 600'' 



" September 1st to October Ist, 475" 



" October Ist to November 1st, 313" 



" November ist to December Ist, 340" 



" December 1st to January Ist, 394" 



" January 1st to February 1st, 401 



" February 1st to March 1st, 826 " 



" March 1st to Apiil 1st, 328 " 



" April 1st to May 1st, 216 " 



" May 1st to 7th, 30 



53i;7 lbs. 

 At 10 lbs. per gaUon, 530 gallons. 



3. Mcmoravda of MiVc given by imported Ayrshire 

 cow Venus, from June2{lth to May 2lst. 



From 20!h June to Ist July, 283 lbs. 



" 1st July to 1st August, 805 " 



" Ist August to 1st Septeniher, ^'■'^ " 



" 1st September to Ist October, 5H7 



" 1st October to Isi November, 498 



" let November to Ist December, 319" 



" Ist December to 1st January, 4U3 " 



" Ist January to Isi February, 4Uti 



" 1st February to 1st Morch, 351 



" 1st March to 1st .April, 368 '| 



" 1st April to 1st May, 319 



" Ist May to 2l8t, 151 " 



5163 lbs. 

 At 10 lbs. per gallon, 516 gallons. 

 Memoranda of Milk giren hy imported Ayrshire 

 cow Cora, from A'or. \~thto May 21 st. 



■ - ■ ■ 388 lbs. 



834 " 

 846 " 



I November 17th to December 1st, 

 December 1st to January Ist, 

 Januuiy 1st to February Ist, 

 February 1st to March Ist, 

 March 1st to April 1st, 

 April Ist to May let, 

 May Ist to 2l8t, 



704 " 

 670 " 

 405 " 



4023 lbs. 

 At 10 lbs. per gallon, 462 gallons. 

 The mode in which these cows are fed is as follows: 

 " Our Ayrshire cows, during the winter, have half 8 

 bushel of sugar beets or potatoes ; with the former, 

 about a pint of rye meol mixed with the cut beets; 

 but when they have potatoes, the meal is omitted.— 

 With the above, they have os much English bny as 

 they can cot. In the summer ^hey have notliin 



I the butler from the Avrshire cow was decidedly belter whot they get in the pasture. 1 hey are dri 



