Suffolk Breed of Cattle. 
The origin of the various polled breeds of cattle, 
Is involved in some doubt. There has existed from 
the earliest times to which history reaches, a stock 
of wild cattle having generally this peculiarity, and 
they are carefully preserved at this day, in Chatel- 
herault Park, Lanarkshire, Scotland,—the residence 
of the Duke of Hamilton. But whether this is the 
parent stock of the present polled breeds, is a ques¬ 
tion not so easily settled. 
The most noted of the domestic varieties of polled 
cattle are the Galloway, the Angus, the Norfolk, 
and the Suffolk. Of the latter, represented by our 
cut, Martin gives the following description: 
(( In Suffolk, a breed of polled cattle, known by 
the name of Suffolk duns, has been long celebrated; 
though the dun color is now by no means a common 
character; indeed it is not preferred; for with late 
improvements, other colors, as red, red and white, 
brindled, and yellowish or creamy white, have al¬ 
most abolished the dun. There can be little doubt 
but that the polled Suffolk cattle owe their origin to 
the Galloways; not that they are of the pure strain 
of the Galloways: on the contrary, they are the re¬ 
sult of interbreedings with them; and their chief 
qualifications are as milkers, rather than feeders; 
although, in this latter respect, even the lean cows 
when dried, show no little of the properties of their 
Galloway progenitors. A good Suffolk milking cow 
is lean and spare, with a light thin head, a clean 
neck, little dewlap ; slender, but short limbs ; a heavy 
and well-ribbed carcass, a large udder, and swollen 
milk veins. Generally the hip bones are high and 
prominent, the loins narrow, and the chine hollow. 
There is in all this, nothing of the true Galloway 
contour, and where the points characteristic of this 
breed prevail, though but in an inferior degree, the 
animal is fitter for the feeder than the dairyman. 
“Few cattle excel the Suffolk as milkers; a good 
cow, in the plentitude of her milk, will often yield 
six gallons a day; some have even yielded eight. 
“ The Suffolk dairy-farmers in general pay but 
little attention to their breed of cattle; or rather, 
are actuated by no sound principles. They usually 
kill the bulls in their fourth year, irrespective of 
their intrinsic excellence; and the valuable and the 
'worthless share the same fate: consequently, should 
the progeny of any particular bull exhibit more 
than ordinarily good qualities, the chance is, that 
no advantage can be taken of the discovery, the sire 
having been slaughtered before it was made. Be¬ 
sides, the bull is in perfection from his fourth to his 
seventh year, and this is an important consideration. 
The heifers are also bred from at too early an age, 
before the system is fairly matured; in consequence 
of which their growth is stopped, or their constitu¬ 
tion enfeebled. Indeed, unless the cows display 
more than ordinary qualities as milkers, it is not 
unusual to fatten them for the butcher at four years 
of age; a plan which surely cannot be commended. 
“ When dried, the Suffolk polled cow acquires a 
good condition with considerable rapidity, and fat¬ 
tens to forty or forty-five stones; the meat is of 
good quality—that, indeed, of the ox very supe¬ 
rior. 
In the communication of John W. Proctor, 
Esq., published in our last volume, p. 373, some 
hornless cows belonging to Mr. Stone, are men¬ 
tioned as remarkable for the production of butter. 
Mr. P. has sent us the following letter, received by 
him from Col. Jaques, in reply to an inquiry relative 
to the importation of polled cattle. The stock 
therein described, was probably the source of many 
of the hornless cattle, erroneously called Galloways, 
which have been raised in New England. 
Ten-Hills Farm , near Boston, December 10, 1849. 
John W. Proctor, Esq.—In reply to yours of 
the 3d inst., I will state, that the only importation 
of polled or hornless cattle, into New England, of 
which I have any knowledge, was made about 1797 
to 1800. A gentleman by the name of Joseph Rus¬ 
sel, then residing in Boston, imported, I think, six 
cows and a bull, and placed them on what was then 
called Hog-Island, now called Belle-Isle, situated 
in the town of Chelsea. They were there bred 
pure for fifteen or twenty years. 
I visited the island frequently, and watched the 
progress of these cattle. I found them hardy, good 
handlers, taking on flesh readily, and as milkers, 
much above our common stock. The calves from 
the imported stock, were generally raised for breed¬ 
ers, and many were sold. Atone time, a large pro¬ 
portion of the cattle in Chelsea, were of this polled 
breed. But the people of that place gave little of 
