52- KERRY COW. 
Irish Cattle. 
In alluding, in n previous article, to the Irish cattle, 
we mentioned that there were two distinct stocks in the 
island, which might be considered indigenous. One of 
these, inhabiting the mountainous districts, evidently 
belongs to the race of Middle-Horns ■ while the other, 
whose natural habitat is the lower country, as clearly 
belongs to the division of Long-Horns. Of the former, 
there are several varieties, but the Kerry breed presents 
the most marked and distinct characters. In many 
points it resembles the North Devon; but it is descri¬ 
bed as shorter in the leg and thicker in the neck, and 
somewhat heavier in the shoulder. It is of various co¬ 
lors; some are red, others brown, others brindled, and 
some with white intermingled with these colors. It is 
a very valuable breed, and is held in high estimation. 
The animals are very hardy, thrive on indifferent pas¬ 
turage, and generally find support on their native hills, 
unsheltered. The cows are excellent for the dairy; 
and in the celebrated butter districts of Ireland, are 
preferred to any other breed. Youatt says—“ The cow 
of Kerry is truly a poor man's cow, living every where, 
hardy, yielding, for her size, abundance of milk of a 
good quality, and fattening rapidly when required.” 
Our countryman, Mr. Colman, states that he found in 
Ireland a dairy of five cows of this breed which had 
yielded an average of 320 pounds each of butter, (ac¬ 
tually sold) in a season. The Journal of the Royal 
Agricultural Society, gives an account of a trial made 
between three Ayrshire, three Galloway, and three 
Kerry cows. The Ayrshires gave rather most milk, 
but the Kerries exceeded them all in butter. The fol¬ 
lowing description of this stock is taken from Rawson’s 
Survey of Kildare: il It [the cow] should have a sweet, 
placid countenance; a neat, clean horn; head very 
small; neck very thin at the head, tapering gently and 
increasing where it meets the shoulder, so as gently to 
cover it; shoulders flat and thin in the blade; chine not 
too fine; chest very deep and full at the breast; ribs ri¬ 
sing roundly and swelling from the chine; couples close; 
hip not too wide, and nearly concealed by the high 
arching of the ribs, and closeness of the couples; hind 
quarters broad and lengthy, narrowing gradually to the 
tail, which should be snug between the bones; the quar¬ 
ters on the outside flat, on the inside full, but not ex¬ 
tending too low; legs fine and clean in the bone.” 
We think the Kerry breed would be found very useful 
in this country; especially for the dairy, in the norther® 
sections, where it is desirable to unite hardiness of con¬ 
stitution with milking properties; and it seems rather 
singular that among all the breeds which have been 
imported, this one, which all authorities agree in re¬ 
presenting of superior excellence, should have been 
overlooked. 
Good Cows.—The cows which received the pre¬ 
miums of the Essex County (Mass.) Ag. Society, last 
year, gave the following products: The one which took 
the first premium was six years old — 11 of mixed breed.” 
from 3d June to 3d July, she gave an average of 18 
quarts of milk per day, beer measure, which yielded 
ten pounds of butter per week. Her feed u common 
pasture only.” The one which took the second pre¬ 
mium, gave from April 28th to September 28th, 2,405 
quarts of milk. The one which took the third premium, 
was eight years old, a cross of the Durham breed. She 
gave from the 27th May to the 25th June, an average 
of 15% quarts per day, which yielded a little over two 
pounds of butter per day—weighed after it had been 
twice thoroughly worked. In 121 days, her milk gave 
192 pounds of butter. Her feed was u good pasture,” 
with 15 quarts of meal during the trial of 30 days. 
The one which took the fourth premium was nine 
years old, and gave, in one year, 8767 pounds of milk, 
—probably about 4,383 quarts—or an average of 
about 12 quarts per day. The one. which took the 
fifth premium, was eight years old, and afforded 15 
pounds of butter in a week, in July last. Her feed 
“ common pasture ” and one quart of meal per day. 
The one which took the sixth premium, gave 2,448 
quarts of milk from April 25th to September 26th. 
u A Subscriber,” at New South Berlin, N. Y., 
states that he has practiced running the common plow 
twice in the same furrow, in order to answer the pur¬ 
pose of subsoiling. This plan is similar in principle to 
trench plowing, and where the subsoil is rich in the 
elements which support vegetation, it answers well; 
but where the subsoil is sterile, it is a better way to 
loosen it with the subsoil plow, without bringing it t© 
the surface, or deeply covering the top soil. 
