572 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



The country produces timothy, clover, and red top, or herd grass, in 

 great abundance. Before the development of the cattle industry, im- 

 mense quantities ol hay were exported to the United States. But now 

 much of the liay crop finds a market with the cattlemen, and tAie ship- 

 ments from this immediate locality show a corresponding decrease. Tlie 

 best roots arc the white Swede turnips, sugar-beets, and carrots ; the 

 turnip being the favorite. For young cattle these are boiled, pulped, 

 and mixed with chopped clover, hay, and either oM cake or cottonseed 

 meal ; while they are sliced or fed whole to mature animals. This is, 

 of course, on well-managed cattle ranches; among ordinary farmers 

 they are simply fed whole in connection with hay. It is probable that 

 Canadian cheese and butter owe more of their excellent quality to this 

 diet of rich and succulent roots, and to one other cause, than to the pe 

 culiar breeds of the milch cows that yield the milk and cream from 

 which they are made. The one other cause is the frequent rains during 

 the summer and fall, which keep the grass always green and tender 

 until the frosts kill it down. 



THE MOST SUITABLE BREEDS FOR QUEBEC. 



The Canadian minister of agriculture (Mr. Pope) is also largely oi. 

 gaged in breeding fine cattle at Cookshire, in this consular district, and 

 the Dominion Cattle Company, of which Hon. W. B. Ives, member of 

 Parliament for the counties of Eichmond and Wolf, is the manager, has, 

 its headquarters here. Besides these thereareother breeders of tboroufih- 

 breds, and a great many extensive raisers of good-grade stock for the 

 butchers and exporters. The united testimony of all these tends to tbe 

 conclusion that the Polled Angus or Aberdeen stock and the Here- 

 fords are the best calculated to produce good beef cattle in this climate. 



They are hardy, large, mature early, and their meat is of the best. 

 Breeders also regard them as much the best for crosses with the native 

 grades here, and under certain circumstances, in the South and West 

 also. 



THE JERSEYS VS. NATIVE FRENCH CATTLE. 



As before remarked the Jerseys and Jersey crosses with native cat- 

 tle are most popular here for dairy purposes. Mr. Cochrane and other 

 breeders of large experience regard them as being, in many respects, 

 superior to the Guernseys, Ayrshires or Devons. The ease with which 

 they are kept in good condition and. the richness of their milk are the 

 points urged in their favor. Some breeders have, at times, cherished 

 preferences for the Guernseys on account of their superior weight, but 

 further experience has taught them thattheii* inferiority to either of the 

 three great beef-producing breeds is too palpable for them to be re- 

 garded with favor for butcher's stock, while their smaller yield of milk 

 and butter will not permit them to become rivals to the Jerseys for 

 dairy purposes. 



It would not be fair to the native stock of cattle to fail to add hero, 

 that in the qualities required for the farm dairy, the Canadian cattle, 

 oven without the benefit of favorable crosses are' really strong. They 

 are thoroughly acclimated, give fair quantities of milk, and the yield of 

 butter and cheese is good. A competent dairyman estimates that the 

 average Canadian cow, with ordinary treatment, will yield 5 quarts of 

 milk daily for at least six months in the year, after which it will slowly 



