February, 1859. 
41 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
THE CHALLENGE—From a Painting by Landseer. 
From among the large number of beautiful 
sketches on hand, and in course of preparation 
by our engravers for the present volume, we se¬ 
lect for this number, as appropriate to the season, 
the above fine engraving from a painting by one 
of England’s most celebrated artists, Edwin 
Landseer, who is considered the best painter of 
animals, of the present age. No engraving can 
exhibit the striking effect of a painting of this 
character, on which the colors stand out promi¬ 
nent, yet a picture like the above—which is as 
perfect a representation of the painting as can be 
given in black and white, on a reduced scale—will 
afford the reader a very correct idea of this “mas¬ 
ter piece ” which comparatively few will ever 
have the privilege of seeing. 
The scene is one of those wild, grand ones, for 
which Scotland is so famous. The chief object 
of interest is the noble but enraged Stag in the 
foreground. The story connected with the pic¬ 
ture runs thus : On a fine moonlight evening, in 
winter, a stag was observed to approach the border 
of a lake, and bellow out his notes of defiance or 
challenge, to another stag standing on the oppo¬ 
site shore. The animal thus challenged, instantly 
plunged into the water and swam across to meet 
his foe. (The head and antlers of the swimming 
animal can be seen in the picture.) They engaged 
in a fierce combat which resulted in the death of 
noth, for they were found dead the next morning, 
with their long branching antlers firmly and al¬ 
most inextricably locked together. Landseer 
executed two accompanying paintings, one 
‘The Combat,” and the other “The Result,” 
which it is unnecessary to copy here, as the imagi¬ 
nation will very readily supply them after an ex¬ 
amination of the above. We need make no 
apology for the introduction of engravings like 
these. They not only give pleasure, but cultivate 
a correct taste for the beautiful in art. While 
our aim is to give the Agriculturist a general 
practical character, we also believe it may, in a 
measure, take the place of an artistic magazine, 
and be an ornamental volume upon the table of 
every country resident. We are more than 
pleased, that the constantly increasing circulation 
of this journal, bids fair to enable us to furnish a 
still larger number of engravings of high order, 
and at the same time supply the paper to sub¬ 
scribers at a price unprecedented in the history of 
literature. Our readers must have already noted 
that while the Agriculturist is furnished to clubs 
at barely 80 cents per annum, its size, variety of 
instructive articles, and amount of engravings, 
are scarcely excelled by any of the three dollar 
magazines. 
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Written for the American Agriculturist.—Prize Articles 
The Dairy.II. 
SELECTION OP COWS. 
We are not going into a discussion of the dif¬ 
ferent breeds of the cow, as understood by cattle 
breeders,but ofthe general characteristics of those 
best suited to dairy purposes. We care not what 
her breed, whether it be Short Horn, Ayrshire, 
Devon, Hereford, Alderney, or Native, further 
titan that she be a good milker. As to the quality 
of her milk, it should always be rich; as to the 
quantity, that may depend upon the size of the 
cow, and the amount of food she consumes We 
have known cows that yielded thirty quarts of milk 
in the height of the season, which were not 
so economical to the dairyman as others not giv¬ 
ing over twenty quarts. One ate enormously, the 
other moderately. It depends much, also, on the 
quality of the pasturage as to what description of 
cow the dairyman should adopt. A compact, even 
bodied cow will frequently live and thrive, and do 
her best in milk, where a large rangy beast would 
barely live, and yield less milk than the oilier; 
while, in abundant pastures, where the food is 
easily obtained, the largest animal, giving a pro¬ 
portionate quantity, would be preferable. So, in 
the selection of his cows the dairyman should 
understand the quality of his pastures, equally 
with the description of cows with which he is 
to stock them. 
DESCRIPTION OP A DAIRY COW. 
As a rule, we would say, that a compact, small 
boned cow of her kind, whatever the breed may 
be, is the most economical for the dairy. A raw- 
boned, big-jointed, loose-made beast is usually a 
huge feeder, and a poor keeper, and although 
sometimes an extraordinary milker, is not, on 
the whole, a profitable one to keep. Our own 
style of dairy cow should have a small head, with 
a lively eye, and a light horn. Her neck should be 
thin, her shoulders open, or well spread apart; her 
ribs round, and extend well back towards her hips; 
her back straight; her loins and hips broad ; her 
rump level; her flanks deep ; her belly capacious, 
without being paunchy; her twist full, and low; 
her udder clean, silky in the hair, with fair sized 
taper teats, standing well apart as they issue 
from the bag. When milked dry, the udder should 
be small,and shrunken—not meaty—but when full, 
it should be plump, and hard ; her tail fine ; her 
legs and feet small; and with all these she should 
possess a quiet disposition. It may also be added, 
that she have a yellow skin beneath the hair, be the 
hair what color it may, and the hair be fine, silky, 
and if possible, waving, or slightly curling. These 
qualities, of course, will make a handsome cow— 
an objection in the eye of no one, and certainly 
none to the disadvantage of the cow possessing 
good milking properties. A beast the contrary 
of this description, although possibly a good milk¬ 
er, is not desirable; and when the kind we have 
described is just as easy to be obtained, as its 
opposite, if one will but take a little pains, the 
standard of perfection, or as near to it as possible, 
may as well be adhered to as otherwise. We say 
a yellow skin, as distinguished from a white, oi 
