THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



213 



the purpose. A man who cannot tell refuse lambs 

 from good breeding stock, is no more fit to be 

 trusted than the cheat who puts them off on igno- 

 rant purchasers. 



Mr. Editor j — I have read with attention and 

 pleasure, and, I hope, with profit, the article on 

 " the necessity of having good stock, and the means 

 of procuring them." There is one sentence in your 

 last article to which I object, when you speak of 

 the Short-Horns as the " boasted and beautiful, but 

 delicate and uncertain Short Horns." 



When I saw you at the State Show, last Novem- 

 ber, you requested me to write you some articles on 

 cattle, which I promised to do, requesting me par- 

 ticularly to give you a description of the cattle of 

 this portion of Virginia, and their improvement. 

 I introduced to you Mr. Chas. L. Crockett, of Wythe, 

 and told you he was much better qualified for 

 giving you a description of the cattle we had, some 

 twenty-five or thirty years since, than I was, as he 

 had been a grazier from the time he commenced 

 farming. His father was also one of the most ex- 

 tensive and successful graziers of the South-West, 

 and possessed some of the best cattle we had at 

 that day. I saw Mr. Crockett last week, and he 

 said he would write you some articles. No person 

 here is better qualified, as he is acquainted with 

 both the early and late improvements, and is a li- 

 beral and spirited improver of all kinds of farm 

 stock. But to the article in question. 



That the Short Horns are beautiful, all admit. 

 Whether it is right to boast of their superiority is, 

 perhaps, questionable. That the Short Horn breed- 

 ers can with truth boast of their superiority over 

 every other race, so far as having a combination of 

 good qualities is concerned, especially when adapted 

 to soil and climate, I will endeavor to show in the 

 articles which I will write, and, with your permis- 

 sion, publish in your paper. I believe it is con- 

 ceded by all well informed persons, who have tried 

 them, that for early maturity, giving a sure and 

 quick return, whether grazed or stalk-fed, for the 

 food consumed, the Short Horns are without rivals. 

 I believe also that the Short Horns, and their 

 crosses, are as manifestly and decidedly preferable 

 for dairy purposes — when well bred and properly 

 selected — as they are for grazing and feeding. That 

 the pure bred males of this breed are capable of 

 improving all other races of cattle, for any and 

 every purpose, with the single exception of work- 

 ing, which I willingly concede that the pure bred 

 Short Horn ox, with his short legs, broad, straight 

 back and wide, deep and projecting brisket, is not. 

 Nor is it necessary that an animal, which will give 

 you, at two and a half years old, fed on grass and 

 hay, seven or eight cwt. of good beef, as is often 

 done by the Short Horn, should be required to 

 make up by work for his tardiness in arriving at 

 maturity, as is the case, in my opinion, with both 

 the Devon and Hereford. But it is not for the pur- 

 pose of saying anything against the Devons or 

 Herefords, or any other improved race of cattle, 

 that I am writing. The Devon has always been a 

 great favorite with me, and I have no doubt that 

 for particular localities and the lighter soils of the 

 country, they are the best of all cattle. The De- 

 vons were very well represented at our Show, by 

 several animals, all of which I do not now recollect; 

 but I do recollect that Mr. Hardy of Norfolk showed 

 some of great excellence, uniting delicacy of touch 

 with fine small bone, and, apparently, vigorous con- 



stitution. I saw but two or three bulls at the New 

 York Show superior to the young bull shown by Mr. 

 Hardy, and I saw a great many very much inferior 

 to him. Gen. Peyton of Albemarle also showed a 

 two year old bull and heifer, which were very fine. 

 I believe you purchased the bull calf, out of the 

 General's heifer, to be given as a premium for the 

 largest number of subscribers obtained by any per- 

 son for the Planter. The calf, I see, is to go to 

 Prince Edward, and will, I have no doubt, be of 

 great advantage to that county ; provided he and 

 his descendants are properly taken care of. But 

 if any persons have taken it into their heads that 

 the Devons will live on an armful of shucks for 

 breakfast, and what "boots" (I believe they are 

 called,) he may pick off the cornstalks through the 

 day for dinner, and a mess of wheat straw for sup- 

 per, with the lee side of the stack for his bed in winter 

 and sedge-grass in summer, and still retain their 

 symmetry, good points, and early maturity, they 

 will find themselves mistaken. The Devons to the 

 North are as well taken care of as the Short Horns ; 

 and this is the case with the Devon herd of Mr. 

 George Patterson, of Maryland — they are kept up 

 to their present excellence by importing, every few 

 years, the best animal to be found, to cross them 

 with, and by invariable good ketp. Of the Herefords 

 I know but little, never having seen a pure bred 

 one until last fall, at the New York Show. The 

 Herefords have in England maintained a long and 

 sharp contest with the Short Horns, as grazing and 

 feeding animals; some of their advocates in this 

 country also claim good milking. Knowing these 

 facts, I had great curiosity to see some of the pure 

 blood Herefords, and examined them very atten- 

 tively. The result was that they did not come up 

 to my expectations, and I thought them far inferior 

 to the Short Horns, for the rich grass lands of the 

 country, and to the Devons, for the light soils. I 

 was accompanied in my examination by a friend 

 from Wythe, who is a good judge of stock, and a 

 large grazier, but not interested in any particular 

 breed as a breeder, and he concurred with me in 

 opinion. I did not see any fat steers of the Here- 

 ford breed shown, which somewhat surprised me, 

 as they have been in the country ten or twelve 

 years, and I do not suppose they have all been re- 

 tained as bulls. That the Herefords have ever 

 come up to the Short Horns in weight of beef, at 

 the same age, is somewhat surprising, if the last 

 were fairly represented in the specimens I saw. I 

 do not know whether there are any pure blooded 

 Herefords in Virginia; but if there are, I would 

 like very much if two steer calves, of each of the 

 rival breeds — Hereford, Devon and Short Horn — 

 could be placed in the hands of some careful and 

 intelligent farmer — such for instance, as James 

 Newman of Orange — to be kept until two or three 

 years old, and then exhibited and killed at the State 

 Show, and see which beats. I would stipulate that 

 none of the cattle should have grain, but all to 

 have as much good hay as they could eat in the 

 winter, and an abundance of grass in the summer. 

 I do not care whether they are housed in winter or 

 not. I believe if the Short Horns have plenty of 

 hay, or good corn fodder, they will winter as well 

 at the open hay stacks as either Devons or Herefords. 

 But to determine whether they are delicate, it would 

 be better that they should not be housed. I do not 

 know what you mean by their being uncertain; but 

 suppose that it refers to their being uncertain 

 breeders. Very often high bred heifers are made 

 barren by high feeeding, in order to exhibit them 



