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early times it was noted for its butter; latterly it is called the 

 Epping butter, which it supplies in greater proportions than any 

 other county in the kingdom, for the London market. 



The old Suffolk dun cow was formerly much found here, as 

 well as a race of Short-horn cattle, imported from Holland and 

 Belgium. They were good milkers, and when taken to the stalls 

 produced great quantities of beef. The settlement began in this 

 town as early as 1637; indeed many of the people in the counties 

 of Essex and Middlesex, in Massachusetts, came in originally 

 from the eastern and southern part of England, with their cattle. 

 These cattle were generally good for the dairy; most of them 

 were the Middle-horns; a few of them were of the Long-horns, 

 some were Leicestershires, some were Yorkshires, and some 

 Durhams, but not so many of the Devons and Welsh cattle were 

 introduced into the old Massachusetts colony by the first settlers, 

 as were into the New Plymouth colony, and into Connecticut and 

 Rhode Island. 



In looking at the statistics of Massachusetts at the present day, 

 we find that Middlesex is one of the best dairy counties in the 

 State. Worcester is the best, having produced 1,637,978 lbs. of 

 butter, and 1,791,030 lbs. of cheese in one year. The stock of 

 cattle in this county are the descendants of the races first intro- 

 duced into Essex, Middlesex and Norfolk counties by the first 

 Pilgrims. 



Berkshire county produced 1,262,845 lbs. of butter and 

 2,658,192 lbs. of cheese. The old county of Hampshire, Mas- 

 sachusetts, produced 2,445,289 lbs. of butter within the same 

 period. This county includes Franklin, Hampden and Hamp- 

 shire. 



The cattle of Berkshire county, Mass., came in originally 

 mostly from the Housatonic Valley, and from the western part of 

 Connecticut, and also from the Hudson river, including a large 

 share of the original Dutch or Holland stock. The cattle of old 

 Hampshire county came from the New-Haven and Connecticut 

 colonies, and from Dorchester, which was at one time the head- 

 quarters of a large emigration. The same remarks will apply to 

 many of the cattle first introduced into Worcester county. 



