268 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Hereford Cattle. 
In our March No., page 76 
of this volume, we gave a 
full description of the Here¬ 
ford Cattle, illustrating the 
breed with engravings from 
Youatt and Martin’s work— 
these being the best we could 
then obtain. But the more 
we have looked at those pic¬ 
tures, and compared them 
with specimens of the animal 
in this country, the less sat¬ 
isfactory they appear, since 
they do manifest injustice to 
the breed as now improved, 
both in style and appearance. 
We are glad therefore to be 
able to present original 
sketches, taken for this jour¬ 
nal from Mr. Coming’s ex¬ 
cellent Herefords. They are 
quite life-like and show 
what the best Herefords 
now are, in form, substance 
and value. Wp get few bet¬ 
ter engravings of Cattle than 
the two here given 
Values of Blooded Cattle. 
We have been asked to explain why, at some 
of the late public sales of thorough-bred Cattle 
and other farm stock, the prices ruled so much 
lower than a year or two ago, with a fear added, 
that prices might ultimately get so far down as 
not only to result in a serious loss to present 
holders of such stock, but to render it no object 
to rear them for breeding purposes. 
It would be strange, indeed, if such a financial 
revulsion as we lately passed did. not affect the 
prices of any and everything which, though high¬ 
ly useful, is not very common, and to which par¬ 
tially, at least, fancy values are apt to be attached. 
That blooded stock of all kinds has not been ut¬ 
terly unsalable, instead of selling at quite tolera¬ 
ble prices, as they have done at the recent public 
sales, is surprising, and only proves that they 
have a positive value, and that the public still ap¬ 
preciate that value, regardless of money pressure 
and low prices in most other things. The live 
stock of a country, once reduced, is slow to come 
up. The capital invested in them is enormous. 
They cannot, like the grains and other agricul¬ 
tural crops, be produced in a single year, but are 
the growth of several years, with food, labor and 
a very considerable outlay added. They are, 
therefore, not a temporary, but one of the perma¬ 
nent branches of our industry, indispensable to 
our consumption, and not a luxury that may be 
put aside without inconvenience, or suffering. 
The population of the country must have meats, 
as well as bread and clothing, and for so much as 
they want, the demand is good, always. As to 
prices, that must depend on the extent of supply. 
Happily for the stock breeder, and grazier, the 
country is not overstocked with either Cattle or 
Sheep. Nor is it soon likely to be Agriculture, 
instead of gaining on the other branches of hu¬ 
man industry, barely holds its own, and with the 
new enterprises continually opening to the am¬ 
bition of our young men, they are drawn off in 
too great proportional numbers to give agricul- 
turalTabor or capital a preponderance of supply. 
Fine, or improved farm stock, is, among its 
kind, what improved machinery is in the produc¬ 
tion of fabrics of any class. A belter article is 
produced at a cheaper rate. A well-bred Short- 
Horn, or a Devon bull will beget a calf in a com¬ 
mon cow worth, at the lowest estimate, one to 
two dollars more at six weeks old, for veal, than a 
common scrub—or ten to fifteen, or even twenty 
dollars when grown into a bullock for beef. A 
Southdown or a Cotswold ram crossed upon the 
common ewe gives the same proportionate value 
to the lamb, or the whether. So with other im¬ 
proved stock, of whatever kind, excepting some, 
perhaps, which do not enter into consumptive ar¬ 
ticles, and are only bred as a thing of taste, or 
fancy merely. Whatever has intrinsic value will 
maintain it, in the long run, let temporary causes 
of depression be what they may. Therefore, we 
do not regard the lower prices at which blood 
animals may have been recently sold as affecting 
at all their permanent breeding value. 
We admit, however, that some classes of fan¬ 
cy, or improved stock have been too high in price 
for purposes of utility only. But as in everything 
where great excellence has been attained, supe¬ 
rior quality will command its price. And it is 
well that it is so. Without that reward, the at¬ 
tainment of marked superiority would be neglect¬ 
ed in every thing. Were we a stock-breeder in 
the better class of animals, we would in¬ 
crease rather than diminish our stock at the pres¬ 
ent time, to be in readiness to supply the better 
demand which is sure to come soon. 
Swiss Cattle. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
With the July Agriculturist I am so well pleased, 
that I determined, if you will forward a copy of 
the German edition, to try to collect subscribers 
from among my German neighbors. Will you, 
if consistent, give a description, &c., of Swiss 
cattle, and if introduced would they maintain that 
superiority as milkers which they possess in their 
native land 1 
The Lehigh County Agricultural Exhibition for 
1858, will be held at Allentown, September 28th 
to October 1st. A visit, I think, would amply 
repay you—for it is only a few hours’ ride—to see ■ 
our large and spacious barns filled to overflowing. 
The largest stone and the largest iron bridges in 
the Union are here — only a few miles apart — 
crossing the Jordan. In one view, you can see 
the smoke rising from the furnaces manufactur¬ 
ing one-sixth of all the iron made in the United 
States, and last though not least, an honest and 
upright German people. 
Edward Kohler. 
Whitehall Station. Lehigh Co., Pa., Aug. 5, 1850. 
Remarks. —We regret that we cannot give our 
correspondent a description of Swiss cattle, from 
personal inspection, rather than from the loose 
observations made upon them by others, and 
those not of the most exact kind. 
There are, as we learn, two different classes of 
cows in Switzerland adapted to their different 
ranges, and climates. In the rich lands, and val¬ 
leys, are kept a fine, short legged, broad backed 
race, weighing some ten or twelve hundred 
pounds, deep milkers, and good in all the require¬ 
ments of the dairy. As near as we can learn, they 
are something akin to the Dutch or Holland cat¬ 
tle, which are a sub-variety of Short Horn, excel¬ 
lent milkers, but rather coarse in bone, and mostly 
black and white in color. Many of the Holland 
cows were imported into New York, from time to 
time, many years ago ; and, although they exhib¬ 
ited excellent dairy qualities, failed to establish 
any decided superiority over our good crosses 
with the Short Horn, Devon, Ayrshire, and Alder¬ 
ney on our best native cows. 
The other race of Swiss cows is the mountain 
breed, or such as are kept through the Summer 
on the steep mountain sides of the highlands, 
where a light, agile creature only can crop the 
herbage on their precipitous sides. They cannot, 
of course, be deep milkers, but what they do 
give is rich, and creamy, making excellent butter 
and cheese. We do not believe that either of the 
breeds of Swiss cows introduced into the United 
States would be an improvement, either in them¬ 
selves, or their crosses, on what we now have in 
the fine races of English, Scotch, and Channel 
Island cattle, under the various names of Short¬ 
horn, Devon, Hereford, Alderney, Ayrshire, and 
Galloway, of which we have recently given full 
accounts and descriptions. These are destined, 
as we think, to be favorites with our farmers and 
cattle breeders beyond all others. Removed into 
