276 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
HISTORY OF THE BULLOCK STOCK. 
There is a description of cattle well known in this part 
jf the country as the “ Bullock Stock,” the Instory of 
which, we have taken some pains to learn, and for this 
purpose, we paid a visit, a few days since, in company 
with a gentleman well skilled in cattle genealogy, to the 
farm of the late Matthew Bcjllock, Esq., (about ten 
miles from this city,) the gentleman from whom the stock 
alluded to, took its name. 
We find that sometime previous to the year 1820, Mr. 
Bullock purchased of Mr. Cox, of Rensselaer county, a 
bull and two heifers of a family of Short Horns, which 
the latter gentleman imported from England. The par¬ 
ticulars of this importation, we have not been able to 
procure, but shi / nake further endeavors to obtain them. 
These heifers and their produce, were afterwards bred to 
two Short Horn bulls imported from England by Messrs. 
Bullock and Wayne in 1821. One of these bulls was 
called Nelsor, and the other Comet —the former was 
principally "" ed , and the latter nearly white. The stock 
from both these bulls proved good—that from Comet par¬ 
ticularly, was very well shaped, and thrifty, and the pro¬ 
geny of both were good for the dairy. Mr. Bullock first 
took Nelson, Mr. Wayne retaining Comet; and after three 
or four years, they exchanged, Mr. Bullock taking Com¬ 
et, on whose hands he died. For several succeeding 
years, Mr. Bullock bred from bulls raised by himself 
and from bulls owned by the Patroon. In the year 
1832, Mr. Geo. W. Smith imported the Short Horn 
bull Copson, and the cow Susan. Mr. Bullock bought 
Copson, and bred from him till 1837, when he was pur¬ 
chased by G. Y. Sackett, Esq. of Seneca Falls. The stock 
from Copson proved superior for dairy purposes to any 
Mr. Bullock had before bred—though his cattle had all 
along been good in this respect; and it seems to be a ge¬ 
neral impression that the stock from this bull were supe¬ 
rior as milkers, to any which had then been known here. 
A primary object with Mr. Bullock, in the outset, was 
the establishment of a dairy. His cattle were of course 
chosen with a view to this object, to which they proved 
well adapted; and after the use of the bulls Comet and 
Copson, they united, also, very good fattening qualities, 
and were, besides, good for labor. They were in some 
instances sold as high as $225 per yoke, simply as work¬ 
ing cattle, and some of them which were fattened, were 
quite extraordinary. A pair of six years old white oxen, 
(got by Comet,) were sold to a b dcher of New-York, one 
of which weighed alive, upwsrds of twenty-nine hundred 
pounds. They had been wo.Ked on the farm for two or 
three seasons, and the season they were turned off to fat¬ 
ten, performed a heavy spring’s work at plowing. They 
were fattened about eighteen months. One of them had 
325 lbs. of rough tallow—the other, 296 lbs. Mr. Bul¬ 
lock sold them for $600. 
Mr. Bullock carried on dairying on a considerable 
scale—milking some seasons from thirty-five to forty 
cows, and making as many as eight tons of cheese in a 
season; the quality of which was so superior, that the 
whole of it commanded a price as high as eighteen cents 
per pound. 
It is evident that it was Mr. Bullock’s object to make 
his stock intrinsically valuable. He did not rely on sales 
at high prices, but endeavored to keep that which gave 
most profit on the farm, and in this respect he was abun¬ 
dantly satisfied. 
None of the stock we have mentioned, were Herd- 
Book animals—in fact, all of them, with the exception 
of Copson, were imported before any Herd Book was 
published—the first volume of that work having appear¬ 
ed in 1822. Of Nelson and Comet no particular history 
has been preserved. The pedigree of Copson was as fol¬ 
lows : 
Copson, roan, imported in 1832, by G. W. Smith, Esq. 
ored at Copson-Lodge, England. Copson was got by 
Dutchman, dam, Cardinal; g. dam, Nelson; g. g. dam, 
Marske; g. g. g. dam, sire of Danby; g. g. g. g. dam, 
Danby. 
Dutchman, by Mynheer—dam, Pretender, &c. &c. 
So well was the value of Mr. Bullock’s stock finally es¬ 
tablished, that at a sale which took place in 1837, and at 
some private sales which took place both before and after 
wards, several of the cows brought $200 to $275 each. 
Since the death of Mr. Bullock, which occured a littl 
more than a year since, the farm has been divided be 
tween two of his sons, Messrs. Andrew and Thomas Bui 
lock. From these gentlemen, and from Mr. C. N. Be 
ment, (who was well acquainted with Mr. Matthew Bui 
lock, and all the circumstances attending the importation 
and purchase of his stock,) we have derived the principal 
points in the above history. 
Working qualities of the Short-Horns. —An idea 
prevails among farmers, that our common stock is better 
for work than the improved breeds, or at least, better 
than the Short-Horns. We are satisfied that this opinion 
is in many cases founded in gross prejudice—we do no f 
believe that any fair experiments support the idea in the 
least. We saw on the farm of Mr. Thomas Bullock, a 
pair of working oxen, entirely of the variety we have 
been speaking of above, one of which was five, and the 
other six years old. They were heavy—would “girt” 
(as the Yankees say,) considerably over seven feet, anal 
were well proportioned." They were harrowing some 
tough inverted sward, near the middle of one our warm 
est days. One of them, (a son of Copson,) was as cool 
and quiet as if he had been lying in the pasture; the oth¬ 
er had not been so much accustomed to labor, and did not 
perform his work quite so easily, but was in good condi 
tion in every respect. Their gait was spirited and live¬ 
ly—more so than that of common cattle. Mr. Bullock 
assured us that they had worked very steadily without 
extra keeping. On the farm of Mr. Andrew Bullock we 
were shown a pair of large red oxen of the common 
breed. We asked Mr. B. if he preferred these cattle to 
such as his brother’s; he replied “no, they are neither 
so handy or so quick as his, and will not stand work so 
well.” Both the Messrs. Bullock told us that their fa¬ 
ther worked many of the oxen of his breed, and that he 
always preferred them to the best of the common coun¬ 
try oxen. They were more tractable, were stronger, and 
were kept easier. Mr. Thomas Bullock very candidly 
remarked, that upon very light soils, where less strength 
of team is required, lighter and more active cattle might 
be preferred, but that on their strong soil, a strong team 
was necessary, and these heavy cattle were therefore 
found most profitable. 
Clover as a fertilizer. —We noticed that the Messrs. 
Bullock pay very particular attention to stocking all their 
lands that are suitable, heavily with clover. Their pas¬ 
tures were so thickly set with it, that in spite of all the 
stock could eat, it covered the ground like a mat. When 
this ground is broken up, it is full of clover-roots, which 
render it mellow and friable like a carrot bed, almost en¬ 
suring the growth of a heavy crop of wheat or other 
grain. 
The Messrs. Bullock’s buildings are well arranged, and 
generally in good order. Considerable attention is paid 
to saving and making manure, and the yards are pretty 
well arranged for this purpose. Their general manage¬ 
ment is evidently good, and in this respect presents a 
wide contrast with that of some farms we passed on our 
way out, where the miserable fences, slovenly door- 
yards, the dying fruit-trees covered with old caterpillar’s 
nests, old ricketty buildings, &c. &c., showed that the 
occupants were strangers to the comforts which neat and 
good management always brings. 
Mixing Soils _A correspondent of the Springfield 
(Mass.) Republican, states that Mr. John Moore of West 
Springfield, has made a successful experiment in the ap¬ 
plication of clay upon grass land of a daft:, heavy soil. 
Last fail he carted on clay to the amount of forty loads to 
the acre—left it in heaps exposed to the frost till spring* 
when, being dry and partially pulverized, it was spread. 
The expense of digging, carting and spreading, was ten 
dollars to the acre. The grass before the experiment, 
was nearly all sedge. It is now changed (no seed being 
put on) to red and white clover, mixed with herds grass, 
worth double the former crop in quality, and increased 
in quantity thirty per cent. A similar experiment wap 
made in the same lot upon a light, dry, gravelly soil, 
which produced no effect whatever. 
