THE CULTIVATOR. 
339 
CATTLE SHOW AT WORCESTER. 
We had the pleasure of attending the Cattle Show of 
the Massachusetts State Society for the Promotion of Ag¬ 
riculture, held at Worcester on the 9th and 10th of last 
month. The Fair of the Worcester County Ag. Society 
was held on the preceding day, and was, we were told, 
in every respect superior to that of the State Society. The 
premiums of the State Society being restricted to animals 
which had previously taken prizes at the County Shows, 
the competition was confined to a limited number, and 
no inducements were offered to the owners of other ani¬ 
mals to bring them to the exhibition. It seemed to be 
the general opinion, so far as we could judge, thatthe re¬ 
striction of prizes to premium cattle, oughtto be abolish¬ 
ed for the future. 
There were some good bulls. The best were princi¬ 
pally Durhams. Elias Ayres, of Barre, showed two, 
both bred by C. H. Hall, of Harlem, N. Y. One of them 
was purchased of Mr. Mabbett, at our late show at 
Poughkeepsie. He is lame, and in rather bad condition. 
The other is a good five year old bull, weighingupwards 
of 2,500 pounds. The Messrs. Lathrop of South Hadley, 
had a three year old bull on the ground, got by York- 
shireman belonging to Joseph Cope, of Chester Co., Pa., 
and bred by Mr. Bates, Kirkleavington, England. The 
dam of the Messrs. Lathrop’s bull, was from Mr. F. 
Rotch’s stock. The bull has some very good points, and 
he took the first premium. There was also a large bodi¬ 
ed, well made Durham bull, which we understood was 
bred by Henry Watson, of Connecticut. John B. Burt, 
of Sheffield, Berkshire county, had a pretty four year old 
bull on the ground, “ three-quarters Durham, and one- 
quarter Holderness .” In symmetry and handling, he was 
equal to any bull on the ground. He was got by a bull 
imported by Mr. Hickock, of Harlem. We did not see a 
single good bull calf on the ground, and but one good 
heifer calf, and that was a cross of Col. Jaques’ Cream- 
pot breed and the Ayrshire. She belonged to Henry- 
Dodge, Sutton. 
There was a fine cow presented for exhibition only, by 
Charles Allen, Worcester. She was half Durnam—a 
beautiful roan, and her appearance, both in respect to 
shape, thrift, and dairy pi’operties, was very much supe¬ 
rior to any other cow at the show. 
Moses Ayres, New Braintree, showed a cow, which, 
on grass-feed only, gave from the 10th to the 20th of 
June, ten days, twenty-jive pounds of butter, or 2| pounds 
per day. She was also half Durham. 
George Randall, of New Bedford, showed a bull and se¬ 
veral cows anti heifers of the Ayrshire breed, and one cow 
a cross of the Ayrshire and Alderney. The cows have ge¬ 
nerally the appearance of good milkers—among them 
was a young cow, which we understood had been lately 
imported from Scotland, whose appearance was very fine. 
In the forehand, she was unexceptionably beautiful. Her 
head and eye were fine, her horns thin, waxy, and almost 
transparent; and her skin yellow and rich. Taking her 
altogether, she might be pronounced a very superior 
cow. There was a five year old Ayrshire bull on the 
ground, which Mr. J. P. Cushing, of Watertown, pre¬ 
sented to the Worcester County Ag. Society. But we do 
not think either of the Ayrshire bulls here, were equal to 
the one sent from Canada to the Poughkeepsie Fair, by 
Mr. Archibald. 
The sheep were few in number, and with the excep¬ 
tion of two or three, of no particular excellence. There 
were several called native. They were large framed, 
raw-boned animals, not at all calculated to afford profit, 
either as fattening or wool bearing sheep. 
A buck and ewe imported from Africa by Mr. Lowell, 
of altham, attracted attention as a curiosity. Their co¬ 
lor is brown, or snuff color, and their wool long and verv 
coarse and harsh. We do not see that they are recom¬ 
mended by any valuable qualities. 
The show of mine was good—indeed, we think it was 
the best show of the kind we ever witnessed. We saw but 
one full blood Berkshire in the pens, and the cross-bred 
Berkshires were not numerous. The hogs of all ages 
from the State Asylum for the Insane, were superior. 
They are commonly called the « Hospital breed.” They 
have often taken premiums here. The basis of this stock 
is the Bedford breed, brought to this State many years 
ago by the late Hon. Timothy Pickering. Their origin 
in this country was some pigs sent by the Duke of Bed¬ 
ford as a present to Gen. Washington. Dr. Oliver Fiske, 
late of Worcester, had them in great perfection for seve¬ 
ral years. We have bred this stock, and found them very 
profitable. Those which Dr. Woodward now has at the 
Hospital, seem to have been crossed with Mackay, which 
has given them more size, though they still retain the 
symmetry and principal characteristics of the original 
Bedfords. The hospital hogs weigh at 8 months old, 
about 250 lbs.—at 12 months old, 300 lbs—and at 18 
months old, 400 to 500 lbs. Two breeding sows exhibi¬ 
ted by Dr. Woodward, were the most perfect animals of 
their kind we ever saw. Martin R. Wheeler, Westbo- 
rough, showed a sow and several fine young boars of this 
stock. 
Mr. Stickney, of Boston, showed a boar and several 
sows of the Suffolk breed, just imported from England. 
They appear to be a very thrifty, thin-skinned breed. 
Their heads are not quite so good as those of some hogs, 
though Mr. Stickney informed us that some of this 
breed which he before imported, are quite perfect in this 
respect. They have very broad chests and wide backs. 
There were some good specimens of fat cattle. A pair 
half Durham, 6 years old, weighing 5,210 lbs., belong¬ 
ing to John Marland, Andover, received the first premi¬ 
um. There were several fine medium sized red oxen 
exhibited. The fat cattle here, in point of symmetry and 
fineness of quality, were, we should say, generally superi¬ 
or to those at Poughkeepsie. 
The working cattle were good, as a matter of course, 
though the number was less than might have been ex¬ 
pected. The restrictive rule before mentioned, undoubt¬ 
edly operated in this base. The discipline shown by 
nearly all the cattle in managing a loaded cart at a hill, 
was truly admirable. The oxen were less in size than we 
have before seen at the Mass. State Society’s Shows at 
Brighton, and at the County Show in this place. The 
load, 40 ewt., was heavy enough for the weight of the 
cattle, they weighing from 2,300 to 2,900 lbs. the yoke. 
They took this load up a hill steadily and easily, carried 
it down again to the foot, and then backed it straight up 
the steepest part, a good distance. Their faculty of back¬ 
ing is remarkable. They put their bodies close to the 
tongue, to which they keep as closely as if they were ti¬ 
ed there; hold up their heads, and throw their whole 
weight and strength backwards. The best teamsters 
make but little use of the whip, and speak to them only 
in a moderate tone of voice. The discipline of the cat¬ 
tle is commenced at a very early age—almost as soon as 
the calves are able to walk with a miniature yoke on 
their necks. The ox-mind at this early age, is peculiarly 
susceptible of impressions, and the animals consequently 
acquire a degree of knowledge perfectly astonishing to 
those who have only seen them mauled about with a 
club, or strapped down with a bean-pole, having seven or 
eight feet of green hide fastened to one end of it. Some 
of the cattle which are facetiously said to have graduated 
at the ox-university of Sutton, show a degree of intelli¬ 
gence which really seems greater than that possessed by 
some of the drivers of oxen in some sections of the 
country. Even the steers, from three years old down to 
six months old calves, showed as perfect discipline, and 
yielded as ready and prompt obedience to the word of 
their commanders, as most of our military companies. 
There was a pair of yearling steers exhibited here by 
Nathaniel Dodge, Sutton, which were superior to any we 
have ever before seen. Their weightwas 2,290 pounds. 
Their form was almost unexceptionable, and they were 
so completely matched in' color and other respects, even 
to the bend of the horns, that it was almost impossible to 
tell them apart; and the excellence of their discipline 
was as remarkable as their appearance in other respects. 
A little boy, only eight years old, whose name was Elijah 
R. Carpenter, (son of Simon Carpenter, of Charlton,) ex¬ 
hibited a pair of steer calves 6 monthsold. Mr. Carpen¬ 
ter assured the committee that this little boy had had the 
entire management of these steers. He drove them up 
and down the street, and made them perform the custom¬ 
ary evolutions of oxen, with almost as much exactness ai 
was shown by any other cattle. 
