176 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
THE MAMMOTH OXE.N 
The ladies of the Livingston County Soldiers' 
Aid Society purchased the magnificent white 
bullock " Pride of Livingston" for $1000, and 
included it among their gifts to the Ladies' Me- 
tropolitan Fair held iu this city in April, thus 
adding greatly to the interest and materially to 
the income. The weight of the animal sworn 
to by responsible parties was 8603 lbs., and he 
is 7 years old. He was fed by Mr. W. Gr. Mark- 
ham of Rush, N. Y., a letter from whom will 
be found on the preceding page. From his 
appearance, size of bone, shape of head and 
horns, etc., we should call him a " Kentucky 
Durham." He has not taken, on fat very uni- 
formly, especially on the fore quarters, and will 
in our opinion bear another year's feeding, for 
he is more active, clear eyed, and healthy look- 
ing than any animal we ever saw that approach- 
ed his weight within 300 pounds. 
The other, the " Tompkins County Ox," was 
given by the ladies of that county. His weight 
was stated as 3556 lbs. ; but this was arrived at 
by measurement and not by actual weighing, as 
we believe. The weight of the bullock will 
probably not exceed 3400, — however, this is very 
handsome. The fat is still less evenly laid on 
than upon the. white one, and he is not so good 
a handler — but in fineness of bone, head, etc., 
he is superior. Being 7 years old, though of 
good constitution and in good health, it is not 
worth while to make the attempt to give him a 
greater weight. The engravings above repre- 
sents these animals very well. They stood 
separate in large, well littered, loose-box stalls, 
fed well, and of choice remained standing much 
of the time. The white bullock is the heaviest 
beef animal of which we have any accurate 
record. Others have been exhibited as weigh- 
ing 4000 pounds but the statement has never 
been substantiated by any good testimony. 
■»-< _>•-■*-— — ■ .» 
Milch. Cows— Good and Poor. 
A good cow is one adapted to the kind of ag- 
riculture that prevails where the cow in ques- 
tion is kept. Many of the readers of the Amer- 
ican Agriculturist value a cow only because she 
bears them a good healthy calf every spring, 
suckles it a few months, exercises a cow-discre- 
tion in not straying from the herd nor wander- 
ing away from its usual haunts ; whether she 
gives 4 quarts of milk a day or 20, it matters not, 
provided her calf has enough. This estimate 
of the cow prevails wherever young or beef 
cattle are the only salable products of the herd. 
There are many more who value a reasonable 
amount of milk and make use of it to a consid- 
erable extent in making butter and cheese for 
home use, and perhaps for sale, with whom 
the cow's chief value is to multiply the race. 
As we come toward the network of railroads 
and canals which cover great sections of our 
country and place the agricultural regions in 
such close commercial relations with the great 
markets, we find milking qualities more and 
more valued, so that iu the great butter and 
cheese regions, and especially among the milk 
dairies it becomes the only valued product. 
The calves are knocked in the head at birth, 
and their skins only saved. The only ones that 
escape this fate are the heifer calves of famous 
milkers; and though it by no means follows that 
can Agriculturist. 
these take after their dams in milking qui, /Hies, 
but oftener perhaps, after the dam of ilieir sires, 
there are yet notable instances of close resem- 
blance in all respects between famous old milk 
ers and their heifer calves which has run through 
many generations of cows and almost of men. 
"We can expect to raise good milkers only 
by breeding from bulls that have come of ex- 
cellent cows — very queens of the milk pail. 
These are to be found among the breeds famous 
for milking — the Ayrshires and Jerseys— or 
among certain strains of the Devons, which of- 
ten exhibit excellent milking qualities. The 
only admissible excuse for any body's breeding 
from grade or common blood bulls, is that they 
are used to perpetuate if possible the extraordi- 
nary milking qualities of their dams. The in- 
fluence of the dam upon her offspring as regards 
milk production, is a subject upon which agri- 
culturists need more light. Select calves for 
rearing from the best milkers, but invariably 
use bulls from good milch stock. 
When the question with the dairyman is how 
to get a stock of cows that will give him the 
best returns in milk from a given quantity of, 
feed — we say, go about the country and select 
the best cows you can find without reference to 
any thing but soundness, age and milking qual- 
ities — (quantity and richness — one, the other, or 
both). If it be desirable to develop the milk- 
ing qualities of heifers, without regard to the 
other points — let them become mothers early — 
milk them thrice in a day, stripping each time 
very clean — feed succulent and rich fodder, and 
while the animal is still growing, in every way 
promote a strong tendency to milk production. 
