seem to have no connection. Even in 
the latter cases it is exceedingly difficult to 
secure a high degree of excellence in several 
different characteristics in the same animal. 
The breeder must usually be content to accept 
comparative weakness in some qualities as the 
accompaniment of very remarkable develop¬ 
ment in others. Fortunately a fair develop¬ 
ment in a number of qualities may be se¬ 
cured. 
The great majority of farmers will do most 
wisely to attempt the production of animals of 
good general merit, rather than those of won¬ 
derful excellence in any one point. 
It is a great mistake to multiply qualities of 
little importance in themselves, but which are 
insisted on in t he selection of breeding stock. 
Qualities of little importance in themselves 
may become important as evidence of purity 
of breod and the possession of important char¬ 
acteristics which cannot be seen, but only 
injury comes from needless multiplication of 
such characteristics as tests of breed or 
fashion. 
University, Champaign, Ill. 
Netherland Princess, his full sister. She was 
dropped June 38, 1884, and at the date of her 
test was two years four months and five days 
old. Her first calf was droppod on Sept. 30 
last. In the seven days of her test she gave 
383 pounds 10 ounces of milk, which made 30 
pounds 8 \{ ounces of superior butter. It re¬ 
quired 13.97 pounds of milk to make a pouud 
of butter. The dairy feed from which this 
butter was made consisted of 17 ! » pounds of a 
grain ration, consisting of two parts wheat 
bran, two parts corn meal and one part oat¬ 
meal; 30 pounds of corn silage and 35 pounds 
of bay—mixed clover and Timothy. She 
was watered twice a day—all she would 
drink. Netherland Dorinda 0894 gave in one 
week 338 pounds 3 ounces of milk, and 33 
ponuds of butter. Netherland Baroness 3585 
gave iu two days six pounds 4 ! . ! i ounces of 
butter, and Netherland Peeress 2640 gave, in 
five days, 14 pounds I Cj 1 ounce of butter. All 
of the cows are closely related to Netherland 
Prince. They are all owned by Messrs Smiths, 
Powell & Lamb, of .Syracuse, N. Y. who have 
reason to be proud of the Netherland family. 
Pure-bred Bulls for Farmers.— The di¬ 
rectors of the Irish Cattle Trade Association 
are taking active measures to improve Irish 
stock. It is now proposed to raise a aum of 
money with which to procure pure-bred bulls 
of good breeding for public use. These are to 
be placed iu communities where scrub bulls 
abound, and the service fees will be put down 
so low that, no farmer will drive his cows to a 
scrub bull just to save a little money. This 
plan of scrub fighting seems like a good one. 
The association will make no money by plac¬ 
ing these bulls about, but they will improve 
For ever ami alwavs It seems to me 
That no new face can be sweet to see 
As the old ones we have found. 
There Is no cloud In the darkened west. 
The bell Is silent In misty air. 
The year has gone to Its last long rest, 
And L who loved ami who knew It best, 
Shall meet it— <lod knows where! 
—All the Year Round. 
OUR ANIMAL PORTRAITS. 
welsh cow ladt best, 
Less than 50 years ago the Glamorgan 
cattle were probably the most numerous in 
Wales; but ills a question now whether any 
survive in their purity, as they seem to have 
entirely disappeared before (he advance of the 
Short-horn, Hereford and Devon. They were 
excellent milkers and their flesh was consid¬ 
ered of superior quality. The Pembroke or 
Castlemartiu cattle still flourish, however, as 
a distinct breed, although they are hard- 
pressed by English rivals, chiefly the Short¬ 
horns. They are fairly good milkers—as good, 
it is said, as most <>f the improved breeds, and 
both in texture and quality tlieir meat is of a 
superior kind. As a rule, they are black in 
color, though a few have a brown tinge and 
sometimes a little white appears on the face 
and udders. About a dozen years ago a herd 
book of the breed was established, and a 
patriotic effort has been made to perpetuate 
the race. 
The Anglesea cattle claiming to be a distinct 
breed, very closely resemble the Pembrokes. 
They are of blacker color, and a trifle larger. 
They have been raised chiefly for beef, and 
their milking qualities have therefore been 
greatly neglected, and consequently they are 
of little use In the dairy: but their flesh is of 
excellent quality, and considerable numbers 
of them are finished off in England for the 
London market. A herd book lias also been 
established for these of late 
under the name of the North 
Wales Black Cattle Herd 
Book, and as they are extreme¬ 
ly hardy, and thrive on the 
scanty mountain pastures on 
which most English breeds 
would starve, it is likely that 
they will longsurvive the other 
native cattle of tbePrlneipui- 
ity. At Fig. 454 is an illus¬ 
tration of a line cow of this 
breed—T^ady Best, No. 33(i, 
Vol. II. of the North Wales 
Black Cattle Herd-Book. She 
has been during the past year 
a frequent, prize winner 
among Welsh cattle both In 
England and Wales, and in¬ 
herits, according to t-ho 
(London! Live Stock Journal, 
from which the illustration 
has been re-engraved, “the 
purest blood of pedigree 
Welsh cattle.” 
A breed to be profitable and, 
therefore, popular among the 
farmers and dairymen of Eng¬ 
land must be good for both 
beef and milk — lienee the 
trauseendant popularity ol’ 
the Short-horns. 
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
The Mayor of New York has appointed two 
women as School Commissioners, Miss Grace 
Dodge and Dr. Mary Nash Agnew. It is very 
probable that the precedent thus established 
will be followed in other cities. 
Sister Dora, who gave her life to good works 
among the miners of the English “Black 
Couutry,” has been honored by a statue at 
Wa [sail. It is of heroic size, and r epresents 
her iu the dress of her order with a roll of lint 
iu her hand. This is the first statue erected in 
England to any woman not of royal blood. 
Some of the New York papers are now daily 
harrowing their readers with accounts of the 
fearful privations of women in the humbler 
ranks of seamstresses. It is the old, old Song 
of the Shirt., with the modern addition of a 
sewing machine. But, with deepest sympathy 
for these unfortunates, theirs is a mistaken 
labor. A11 over the country are cries for better 
ami more intelligent workers in domestic ser¬ 
vice; why should the underpaid seamstreses 
work day and night, ill-housed and ill-fed, 
when they would be well paid and well cared 
for in such positions? 
A pretty Christmas gift for the baby will be 
a crib comforter. It may be made of cheese¬ 
cloth tufted with pale blue wool. Around the 
r edge may be feather stitching 
of the wool, finished by a frill 
of lace. Another useful gift 
is a drying blanket made of a 
width—doubled—of fine, white 
canton flannel. This is to be 
spread over the lap while baby 
is being washed and dressed. 
The edge is scalloped and 
buttonholed with colored 
wool. It is tufted together like 
a comforter. 
STOCK CONSIDERATIONS. 
It is a trifle curious that the London Smith- 
field Club has not yet been able to decide 
whether to offer prizes for the best dead car¬ 
casses of beef—male and female—at its great 
annual fut stock show before Christmas. Such 
prizes have been offered at. our Chicago fat 
stock show for years; hut John Bull is very 
conservative iu adopting foreign practices, 
however obviously advantageous. Why should 
not prizes be also offered for the best carcasses 
of sheep, swine, and even poultry ? The Club has 
CONFESSIONS OF A 
COUNTRY GIRI. 
WELSH COW, I.SI.Y BEST MB .. . Llw 8»*k JowuL Fig. .... SSCiC . 
of the Fantees. This is highly 
edifying, especially to the women. 1 sup¬ 
pose we are .a singular and inconsistent sex, 
but even our inconsistencies are not with¬ 
out their value. Of all classes, 1 really 
believe that farmers’ wives and daughters 
receive the greatest amount of preaching 
in the coui'se of the year. ATe learn all sorts 
of things about our ways that we never 
thought of before. We learu that we are 
ignorant and narrow-minded from one source; 
that our culture and liberality makes us a 
credit, to the nation from another. One au¬ 
thority compares our fine physique with the 
over-worked European women; another says 
that we never have any figure worth mention¬ 
ing, and that our complexions show the work 
of the deadly frying-pan and the insidious 
soda biscuit. And so on. through a whole 
catalogue of virtues auil faults, until we can 
only conclude that neither of these eminent 
authorities really know anything about the 
matter. 
We girls ought to become a vastly different 
generation from our mothers, if we only read, 
mark, learu and inwardly digest all this good 
advice. But there is one fault a recent writer 
pointed out, whether the result of all this dis- 
sectiou of woman’s ways I cannot say. That 
is, the apparent prevailing discontent 
among women. Wives and mothers com¬ 
plain of their increasing work; young 
women complain of the sordid monot¬ 
ony of their lives. These trials are true 
enough, we all know, to our sorrow, but are 
we not aggravating them by the view we 
take? We need not assert with melancholy 
emphasis, that man is made to mourn, and 
take everything that comes with a sad equa¬ 
nimity. We must cultivate the sunshine on our 
hearts—what t.ho French call gauite de coeur, 
as a recent writer in this department said. 
A great ileal of discontent seems to be caused 
by au aimless life. Of course the woman 
with half-a-dozen babies and uo hired help 
has all. the.aim in life she_needs, if she only 
yet advanced only as far as the consideration 
of offering prizes for the best beef carcasses. 
Entries for the exhibition number 491, aud the 
prizes aggregate $17,330. 
the stock where it could not otherwise be im¬ 
proved. 
Working Cows.— I have seen cows worked 
like oxen. Some men, just starting in and 
trying to get a farm, used to work cows with 
success. Working cows don’t give much milk 
to be sure; but in early days there was not so 
much sale for milk and butter. By having 
quite a number of cows to take turns and thus 
make lighter work, aud feeding extra meal. I 
don’t see why this plan wouldn’t work well in 
some parts of the couutry even now. 
Braudon, Vt. e. f. e. 
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 
professor g. e. morrow 
In-bref.ding is the breediug together of 
animals closely related. Close-breeding and 
line-breeding have somewhat the same mean¬ 
ing; the latter referring to breeding from 
animals of the same family or tribe. Cross¬ 
breeding is the breeding of animals of differ¬ 
ent breeds, families or strains. 
The general opinion is that close in-breeding 
is not advisable; while many stockmen favor 
cross-breeding. Only related animals will 
probably possess many of the same character¬ 
istics. Breeding them together will intensify 
these characteristics. If the animals pos¬ 
sessed any good qualities,it might be the wisest 
course to practice in breeding; but as they 
also have undesirable qualities, or tendencies, 
which will be made more certain to appear by 
such breeding, it is rarely safe to continue the 
practice of breeding from near relatives. Iu 
establishing a breed this practice is more al¬ 
lowable; sometimes necessary. 
Cross-broeding ofton breaks up the estab¬ 
lished characterist ics of the breeds or families, 
but frequently gives animals of exceptionally 
great vigor For the production of animals 
for labor, meat, milk, etc., reasonable cross¬ 
breeding is often satisfactory in its results, 
although it is rarely well to make violent 
crosses, Obviously there is less certainty of 
the reappearance of characteristics possessed 
by cross-bred animals. It also scorns certain 
that breediug from such animals more fre¬ 
quently causes reversion, <>r atavism, than 
when the parents belong to the same breed or 
family. Crossing for the more sake of cross¬ 
ing, or without a definite object in view, is 
unwise. The safer rule, iu the large majority 
of causes, is to continue to breed from animals 
of one breed, avoiding close relationship. 
Certain qualities are directly opposed to each 
other; others are closely related; still others 
SHI TTING OUT CONTAGIOUS STOCK DISEASES. 
Sweden is now the only country in Europe 
whence live stock of all kinds are permitted to 
land in England without being subject to 
slaughter immediately after debarkation, as 
that is the only country free from contagious 
live stock diseases. Denmark is free as regards 
cattle and sheep; but swiuo from that quarter 
must be slaughtered at the port of lan ding \ 
recent Order of Council prohibits the landing 
Of cattle from Norway except for slaughter 
At the recent meetings of stockmen and vet¬ 
erinarians at Chicago, the opinion was very 
generally aud strongly expressed tlmt the best 
American policy would be to prohibit the im¬ 
portation of cattle from any country in which 
contagious cattle diseases exist. Cattle from 
such countries are now admitted for breeding 
purposes subject to a quarantine of IK) days; 
but iu view of the danger of introducing dis¬ 
astrous contagions diseases iu spite of this pre¬ 
caution, often badly enforced, it is generally 
considered the wiser cimrso to suspend Impor¬ 
tation of cattle altogether for breeding pur¬ 
poses from such countries during the preva¬ 
lence of disease there. In doing this we would 
be merely enforcing against Europe the same 
rule Europe is enforcing against us. 
Woman s Work 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TABLIN' 
A cloud came out of tie* golden west, 
A bell rantf over the silent atr; 
The sun-cloud hurried away to rest, 
Flushing with kisses each cloud he prest. 
And, Oh! but the day was fair, 
" How brightly the year goes out,” they said: 
"The glow of the sunset lingers long. 
Knowing the year will be over and dead. 
Its sad hours over—Its fleet hours fled— 
With service of even song.” 
" How sadly the year eame in," they said, 
I listened aud wondered In dusk of night; 
To me no year that might come Instead 
Of the old friend numbered among the dead 
Could ever be half so bright. 
The sun kissed clouds grew pale aud gray, 
The bolls hung silent In high mld-alr. 
Waiting to ring the year away 
In strains that were ever too glad and gay 
For me—as I listened there. 
Oh, hearts! that beat In a million breasts, 
Oh, Ups! that utter the same old phrase, 
I wonder that never a sorrow rests 
lu words you utter to friends and guests 
Iu the new year's strange, new days! 
Is It just the same as it used to be? 
Have now years.ouly a gladder sound? 
THE CHAMPION HEIFER. 
Mrs. Buuciiakd, the inspector of the Hol¬ 
stein Friesian Association, recently tested the 
heifer Nctherlaud Princess* 4th, 19475. This 
test, so far as we can learn, was fair in every 
particular, and stamps the heifer as the most 
remarkable animal of the same age iu any 
breed. Netherlaud Princess 4th is a two-year- 
old daughter of Netherland Prince, auil really 
of tlia samo blood as himself, being from 
