332 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
In 7 days on grass alone she made 13 lbs. 4 oz. 
of butter, in tlie last half of the week making 
fully 2 lbs. per day." This has occasionally 
been exceeded, but it is not often equaled, and 
the statement, is the more valuable from the 
entirely reliable source from which it emanates. 
I have received the following from Mr. J. 
M. Codman, Brookline, Mass., who has made 
an importation of Guernsey cattle, having been 
induced to do so by the deep color of the 
Guernsey butter, exhibited at the Channel Is- 
lands Agricultural Fair in Jersey a few years 
ago. He says : " I must differ with you iu 
your theory that Guernseys are more apt to 
take on flesh while milking. I do not see that 
it is more characteristic of this breed than of 
Jerseys, individuals do, and do not. I think it 
possible that, for ability and service for dairy 
farmers, the Guernseys would be more desir- 
able ; in regard to color of butter, I think your 
position about coloring is not quite tenable. 
Artificial color is virtually a deception — you 
do not know what you buy. Why should a 
yellow skin be a ' point ' of such value in judg- 
ing cattle ? Why color at all, unless to imitate 
something worth imitating, to make butter sell ? 
If yoa say with me that ' there is no question 
as to the superiority of color with the Guern- 
seys,' and if you state in the Agriculturist that 
if ' you would go in for butter alone, you would 
have a herd of selected Guernseys ' ? How do 
you reconcile the two statements, without im- 
plying that the Guernseys have other points of 
superiority besides color of product ? Then as 
to the main question, which breed will get the 
most butter from a given amount of food : A 
large Guernsey would naturally eat more than 
a small Jersey, but I think it would be ac- 
counted for in the pail. I have not many data 
for submission, or comparative tests, but will 
give you two that I have, to compare with 
others that you may have, and as an addition 
to your statistics, from which to draw a sound 
opinion. 
" ' Sapphire,' Guernsey cow, calved first calf 
Oct. 15th, 1872. Jan. 13th, 1872—11 o-arts 
milk made 2 quarts cream — If fcr. outter. 
6'| T quarts milk to 1 lb. butter. 
" Jan. 9th, 1872 — mixed milk of 4 Guernseys 
at different distances from calving time — 13 
quarts milk made 3 quarts cream — 2£ lbs. but- 
ter — 5 J quarts milk to 1 lb. butter." 
I am glad of the opportunity to publish this 
or anything else I may learn in favor of the 
Guernseys, and I am quite ready to concede 
all that their admirers seem to claim, save that 
I do not believe them as a race to be materially 
more productive than Jerseys, nor is the deeper 
color of their butter of special importance, for 
Jersey butter is quite yellow enough. No 
farmer, who has a taste for fine stock, would, I 
think, put the larger size and deeper coloring 
of the Guernseys into the scale against the 
more stylish, thoroughbred, and attractive look 
of the Jerseys. If two animals are of equal 
practical excellence, personal beauty will al- 
ways bear the palm : and this alone I believe 
to be the secret of the greater popularity of the 
Jersey breed. After a pretty thorough investi- 
gation of the whole subject here and on the 
Islands, I believe that the evidence of practical 
productiveness and value is about equally 
balanced between the two races. 
W. C. Blackfan, of Penn., finds fault with 
my recommendation for making hay, as given 
in the Jo'iy number of this series. He says : 
"I do not object to starting the mower, as he 
says, at 5 o'clock, but prefer running it after 
the dew is off, for this reason : the dew will 
dry off the grass better standing than cut, and 
cutting without the dew it will not lay so com- 
pact, therefore it will dry faster. My plan is, 
to start the mower in the morning, and if a 
good day, the hay will be ready to start the 
rake by one o'clock, hauling by two. And this 
I would state constitutes agricultural econo- 
my. " — If grass is to be left as it falls from the 
machine, until the rake is started, of course the 
dew should be off before it is cut, but my plan 
contemplated the constant active use of the 
tedding machine, from the time the mower 
stops, say at 8 o'clock in the morning, until the 
grass is ready for raking. Probably the radical 
difference between Mr. Blackfan and myself is, 
that I propose to cut grass when very young 
and tender, "just in blossom," while he leaves 
it to stand until so ripe that its needs but little 
further drying. I still think that practical 
"agricultural economy" will be much better 
advanced by the pursuit of my system, especi- 
ally when we consider the greater nutritive 
value of early cut hay. 
The deep can system is slowly making its 
way throughout the country. I have a letter 
from a correspondent in Southwestern Virginia, 
who says: " From reading your papers, I was 
induced to try the deep can system at my but- 
ter factory, and I am so well pleased with the 
result, that I write to thank you for giving the 
public such information. Up to this time I 
have used common tin cans ; will you please 
give me the name of a house in New York, 
where I can get the kind that you use 1 " (Iron- 
clad Can Co.,N. Y.) 
Last April I received from a correspondent 
in Iowa, a marvellous statement about the 
production of a young Jersey cow, which was 
to calve in about six weeks, but was still giving 
from 3 to 4 quarts a day, and showing over 40 
per cent, of cream. I requested him to write 
again after she had had her next calf. He now 
writes, July 28th : " My heifer did not come in 
until a month later than I supposed she would, 
some three weeks a 1 t For the last three 
weeks I have kept at ,oaat of her milk. She 
is running in pasture, "57? id marsh grass, about 
a mile from my house. I fake her there morn- 
ings, and bring her he m nights. There is 
some irregularity about it, which I suppose 
accounts for the fact that her yield is not 
regular. I feed her well at home, night and 
morning. During the last week she has not 
given less that 17 quarts a day, and has given 
191 quarts, probably 18 quarts on the average. 
1 think this is a large amount for a three year- 
old heifer, especially when she is not on extra 
pasture, and a long drive at that. As to quality 
I have made but one test, having been away 
most of the time. That was about five days 
ago. The milk showed 23 per cent, of cream. 
We have made some butter, but not in a way 
to give accurate figures. My wife says it takes 
8 quarts to make a pound of butter. How is 
this as a showing for a three year-old Jersey, 
taking quality, quantity, and circumstances 
into consideration ? " — I give this statement 
partly because it is a remarkable one, and comes 
from one whom I believe to be entirely relia- 
ble ; partly however as an answer to a sugges- 
tion which has been made frequently, that a 
record of the production of a dairy cow 
should be taken as a test at exhibitions, rather 
than the pedigree and general character of the 
animal. If we make production the test, we 
are bound to accept every apparently authentic 
statement that is received. And especially in a 
country like ours, it would be impossible to 
investigate the reliability of those making the 
reports, and the accuracy of the methods which 
had been adopted. The statement made above 
is not an improbable one. There is no question 
that the writer fully believes it to be true. At 
the same time, I should hesitate to award a 
premium on such a statement, without knowing 
absolutely that there had been no possibility of 
error, that the quarts had been measured by 
the same careful person, that they had been 
regularly recorded, that the week's product of 
milk had been carefully set and skimmed by 
itself, and that the product showed an average 
of one pound of butter for each 8 quarts of 
milk. While it would be practicable to secure 
evidence to this effect in a few individual cases, 
no such test can be established without the 
danger of excluding equally meritorious ani- 
mals, simply because of the lack of authenticity 
concerning the evidence. The owner of this 
heifer is certainly to be congratulated upon the 
great prize he has drawn, and congratulations 
are equally due to the agricultural neighbor- 
hood in which he lives, that they have the 
opportunity of securing bulls from such an 
animal. 
~- — ■»■ — 
The Mount Fordham Herd. 
The Mount Fordham herd of Shorthorns 
consists of between 30 and 40 head of choice 
animals of the most popular strains. They are 
the property of Col. L. G. Morris, of Fordham, 
N. Y., and have been selected and imported by 
himself in 1872, or purchased at the New York 
Mills sale in 1873. The bull "Beau of Ox- 
ford," which leads the herd, was purchased of 
Hon. E. Cornell. It is doubtful if there is 
another herd in America that represents more 
fully the best strains of what is known as the 
Bates blood. On a recent visit to Mount Ford- 
ham we were favored with an opportunity of 
procuring portraits from life of three animals 
of this herd, which are presented upon the first 
page of our present number. These fine speci- 
mens of this breed of cattle very fairly repre- 
sent the herd, which is remarkably even in 
character and excellence. The bull " Earl of 
Clarence " is roan in color, was calved Septem- 
ber 12th, 1871, and is now about three years 
old. He was bred by the Earl of Cawdor, his 
sire was " 3d Duke of Clarence," and his dam 
" Henrietta the 9th," which was by " Duke ol 
Wharfdale," out of " Henrietta." He is a fine 
young bull. The foremost cow is " Tacita 3d," 
a light roan, five years old, of the White Rose 
family, and counts in her pedigree the bulls 
"Duke of Claro," "May Duke," "Duke of 
Gloster," " Earl of Derby," which was bred by 
Mr. Bates, and also two other Bates' bulls. 
This is a very smooth cow, with a fine coat, 
and is a good milker. The cow in the rear of 
" Tacita 3d " is " Lady Worcester 8th," a red 
rpan, 4 years old, of the Wild Eyes family, and 
very finely bred. Her pedigree includes " Mar- 
ton DuKe," " Red Duke 3d," "Duke of York," 
" ssd Cleveland Lad," and the " Duke of Nor. 
thumberland," the last three all bred by Mr. 
Bates. Col. Morris is a breeder of long expe- 
rience, he having been engaged in enriching 
the Shorthorn stock of America since 1850. 
The catalogue of his herd recently issued con- 
tains the pedigrees of all the animals except 
the present year's calves. None of the herd 
are for sale, but bull calves and yearling hulls. 
