1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
51 
importations are made, (as from Jersey), they are 
of course fraudulent. The United States Consul 
in the Jersey district, transmits the resolutions of 
the Society to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
and the discussion is taken up in this country in a 
manner that shows a very general wrong impres¬ 
sion concerning the facts connected with the im¬ 
portation of Jersey cattle. As secretary of the 
Cattle Club, aud as editor of its Herd Register, J 
have probably had submitted to me for entry, at 
least 95 per.cent of all animals said to have been 
imported from the Island of Jersey, and in every 
case where the facts of importation have been suf¬ 
ficiently established, (save in the case of animals 
imported very recently without the certificates now 
required), the entries have been made. These im¬ 
portations extend through the wnoie period since 
Taintor and Motley made their first importations, 
which may be regarded as the foundation of the 
stock of Jersey cattle in the whole country. The 
total number of entries of imported aud home-bred 
animals up to the end of 1875, is 6,526; of these 
only 1,249 are imported animals, being an average 
for the whole time, (twenty-five years), of fifty per 
annum. In the years 1868 to 1870, there were two 
or three rather large importations which would 
probably carry the average for those years to 100 
each, and would reduce the average for other years 
in proportion. It would have been easy for the 
Department of Agriculture, by reference to the 
records in the Treasury Department, to ascertain 
the exact number imported in any one year, and to 
have set at rest a question the discussion of which 
has been the opposite of beneficial to the interests 
of Jersey breeders. Incidentally to this discussion, 
the Club has been much reviled for having estab¬ 
lished rules, which are said to be injurious to many 
owners of this breed, and there have not been want¬ 
ing those who ascribe our action to our desire to 
preserve a monopoly of these animals. No rule of 
the Club has ever been established for the purpose, 
nor with the effect of upholding the interests of its 
members, as opposed to those of breeders who are 
not members, nor have the restrictions placed upon 
the recording of imported animals, had any other 
object than to prevent the registry of animals im¬ 
ported by speculators to take advantage of tbe 
growing popularity of the race here, often without 
regard to quality, and often under circumstances 
which lead us to suppose that not only had infe¬ 
rior animals been selected in Jersey for sale here, 
but that good animals from Jersey had been re¬ 
placed by inferior animals in England, (sent out 
under the Jersey certificates); aud that not seldom 
English bred animals, with questionable pedigrees, 
had been offered as coming from the Island. The 
action of the Club has sometimes, no doubt, worked 
to the disadvantage of innocent aud worthy parties, 
whose stock, could the facts be known, is abso¬ 
lutely perfect; but at the same time, we have 
worked for the general benefit, and I am satisfied 
that our rules have, on the whole, secured a very 
satisfactory result, as is attested by the increasing 
popularity of the Jersey cow in every part of the 
country, where butter making or milk for the fam¬ 
ily has been the aim. 
“ Permit me to ask you a few questions about 
stock-breeding. I have grown up on a long Island 
farm of one hundred acres, and expect to have the 
management of one-half of it after this year. I 
like farming and intend to stock it and become a 
good farmer. I like to have good stock, and in¬ 
tend to keep thoroughbred cows and pigs. I pre¬ 
fer the Berkshire pigs, but as to cattle I am unde¬ 
cided. Have long been an admirer of the Devons, 
but have not much acquaintance with them. From 
what I have seen, and from the accounts I read, I 
think I should like them better than any other sort, 
and wonder that they are not more popular. The 
cows most profitable here are such as produce good 
butter and good beef. There are many Jerseys being 
introduced here, and they appear profitable for but¬ 
ter. I am half inclined to adopt them instead of 
the Devons. I shall not attempt to keep both. For 
my own use should prefer Devons, but don’t know 
whether I could sell them so well. Will you give 
me your estimate of the relative merits of the two 
breeds ? Would you advise me to attempt to breed 
thoroughbred stock on so small a farm? I intend 
to soil, and to feed liberally. How many ought I 
to be able to keep ? ” 
This letter is a typical one, and represents the 
sort of questions that all agricultural writers must 
be frequently asked by new beginners. Aud it is 
no small responsibility that one has to assume in 
answering them. So much of the success of farm¬ 
ing, and especially of stock-breeding, depends on 
the character of the farm, and especially on the 
character of the farmer, that one always risks the 
danger of leading an incompetent or improperly 
situated person into a course which, (while it would 
be the best under certain circumstances), would 
not be the best for the applicant. What I say on 
this subject must be accepted with the proviso that 
the man and the farm are suited to the purpose. 
The Devons are unquestionably a fine race of cat¬ 
tle, many of them are good milkers, their milk is 
often rich and well suited for profitable butter¬ 
making, and when their milking days are over, they 
fatten easily into good beef, and they have the es¬ 
pecial advantage of making the quickest, handsom¬ 
est, and most tractable working oxen. For all this, 
they seem to be losing rather than gaining in popu¬ 
larity, and I am not now acquainted with a single 
conspicuous instance of their being bred as a speci¬ 
alty, while I do know of a number of former Dev¬ 
on breeders who have sold out their stocks and 
gone into other breeds. 
There lurks in this letter a fallacy which is very 
wide-spread ; that is, the idea that in considering 
the adoption of a breed for dairy purposes, a pre¬ 
ponderating regard should be had to the value of 
a cow as beef, after her milking is done. This, of 
course, is valuable and important, but its value and 
importance are much less than secondary. Let us 
put the probabilities for the yield of butter at from 
200 to 225 lbs. per cow, a difference that may very 
easily be secured by the selection of good repre¬ 
sentatives of the best breed, or of the second best. 
Take the average duration of profitable milking as 
ten years, and we have a difference in butter pro¬ 
ducts of 250 lbs. worth at 80 cts. a pound, $75. In 
the one case let us assume that we have a worn-out 
thin cow worth, (to fatten), $20, and that in the 
other case we have a well-constitutioned larger ani¬ 
mal worth, (to fatten), $50 ; this is the true stand¬ 
ard, in considering the worth of the cow for fatten¬ 
ing, *we have to regard the cost of feed, and care, 
and time. Here is a difference of $75 in the income 
from butter, and of only $30 in the value for mak¬ 
ing beef. I have purposely neglected the citation 
of large yields and fancy prices, and have presented 
the case in its proper agricultural bearing for 
most localities. It seems to me to prove very 
clearly that no farmer who looks to the manufac¬ 
ture of butter as his business, can afford to con¬ 
sider the beefing value of his used-up cows, as an 
offset for inferior butter production. Thorough¬ 
bred animals get their fancy value from fancy rea¬ 
sons less largely than is supposed. The butter of the 
Jersey, the milk of the Ayrshire, and the beef of 
the Short-born are at the bottom of the fancy prices 
for all of these breeds, for it is this, after all, that 
must be looked to for the permanent value of any 
race. Those who embark largely in the raising of 
thoroughbreds often pay amazing prices for good 
specimens, but they have always the fact to fall 
back upon, that their animals will multiply rapidly, 
and that a slight advantage in. practical value will, 
with their increasing herds, soon help to make up 
for their large outlays. They always believe, of 
course, that they will find customers able to appre¬ 
ciate, and willing to pay, for peculiar excellence, 
but the whole question, in its wide bearings, finally 
settles itself down upon the practical agricultural 
advantage of the race. Short-horns, however fine, 
that are deficient in the quality of continuing in 
their progeny the beef producing characteristics ; 
beautiful Ayrshires, well up in all the fancy points, 
whose descendants will not be good milkers ; aud 
Jersey cattle of the fanciest character, whose fami¬ 
lies are poor butter makers, will always fail in the 
end to be highly appreciated. 
It will therefore be the wisest course for any be¬ 
ginner in stock-breeding, who is willing to invest 
the necessary capital, and to give the care and atten¬ 
tion requisite for success in thorough breeding, to 
select such animals as are, in the first place, best 
adapted for the home industry that he intends to 
pursue, aud in the second place, to get such speci¬ 
mens of the breed as will win favor among those 
who are to be depended upon as buyers at fancy 
prices, but a prudent man will always regard very 
high prices as so much lucky addition to his in¬ 
come. He will not depend upon it as an element 
of his regular business. For example, if one can 
establish a herd of Jersey cows which will make an 
average of 250 lbs. of butter per annum, and is so 
situated that lie can secure (net) 50 cents per lb. 
for his product the year round, so that he may be 
sure of a gross income of $125, he can afford to 
pay a very high price for thoroughbreds, or if he 
has time and patience, he may buy a smaller num¬ 
ber of remarkably good females, at still higher 
prices, and build up his herd, by a few years of 
careful breeding. If at all well situated, he may 
depend on a yearly average value of, say $40, for 
his weaned calves of both sexes. This will pay the 
interest on the cost of his original stock. Then, in 
proportion as he is fortunate in his judgment and 
arrangement, and in his skill in giving to his herd a 
good reputation, he may increase the value of his 
progeny to an amount that will add a very hand¬ 
some profit to a business that has already been 
fairly profitable and satisfactory. Referring to my 
own experience, although I have bought many ani¬ 
mals for from $150 to $250 each, by far the most 
profitable ones have been those which have cost 
me several times these sums. I have already re¬ 
ferred in these papers to a cow for which I paid 
$500, (when this was a much higher price than it 
would be now), and which has returned me, in her 
progeny, nearly $2,000 cash, and more than that 
amount in the value of animals still on hand, these 
increasing year by year, and giving a value to the 
herd that reduces the original investment to insig¬ 
nificance. One may buy ten cows of good quality 
and good pedigree, for $2,500, but the same money 
judiciously invested in one bull and two cows, 
would probably bring a larger profit in the end. 
As to the amount of stock that may be kept by the 
soiling system, on a farm of fifty acres, it is impos¬ 
sible, without knowing the circumstances, to say. 
The character of the soil has much to do with it, 
and the character of the management more. Asa 
general rule, perhaps, it would be the wisest course 
to start with ten cows, even though it might be 
necessary at first to buy some hay. The stock can 
be increased by the keeping of the best of the pro¬ 
geny, up to any amount that the farm may be com¬ 
petent to support. The rock on which any begin¬ 
ner is most likely to split, is to be found in the fact 
that there are always plenty of 6hrewd breeders, 
with capital, ready to offer good prices for the best 
of the increase. No matterliow tempting the price, 
if one has an eye to ultimate success, the best ani¬ 
mals must be retained, unless one knows where the 
same price, or a lesser one, can be used to replace 
them with better animals. 
I should say that, as a business proposition, the 
question in the present case should be whether to 
adopt Jerseys for butter, or Ayrshires for milk ; for 
Devons, however good they may be for home use, 
are practically debarred from receiving the high 
prices that these other breeds bring. Good though 
they are, in all respects, they have retired from the 
fancy market. 
What Rhubarb Comes Fbom.— Rheumpalmatum 
has for very many years passed as the plant which 
yields this valuable drug, as such it has been long 
cultivated in gardens which contain officinal plants. 
Lately another species, and a much more stately 
plant, named Rheum officinale, was brought alive 
from Thibet to France, and has come into culti¬ 
vation. It is pretty nearly proved that this produ¬ 
ces what was formerly known in commerce as 
Turkey rhubarb. But now the Russian botanists 
have proved that the Chinese rhubarb, which comes 
to Europe through Siberia, is yielded by Rheum pal¬ 
matum. So that this, after all, is one of the genu¬ 
ine rhubarb plants. 
