296 
THE CULTIVATOR 
late years, too coarse and Dutch built; they have 
been much improved in symmetry and fineness of 
bone and flesh, by a judicious cross with the Nor¬ 
man cattle. For this improvement I understand the 
country is indebted to the exertions of the late Sir 
William St. Quintin. They are now very excellent 
and beautiful stock, and many of them are made fat 
at three years old.’ " 
It is proper to remark, in passing, that Major 
Rudd was for many years one of the most distin¬ 
guished breeders of improved short-horns in Eng¬ 
land, having purchased at Charles Colling’s sale, in 
1810, the very best, and with the exception of 
Comet, the highest priced animals of that celebra¬ 
ted herd, viz: Petrarch, at 365 guineas; Lily, at 410; 
Countess, at 400 • and Peeress, at 170 guineas. 
Lawrence, in his Treatise on Cattle, published in 
1809, says, at page 57 ,-— 11 The extreme coarseness 
and size of the Northern short-horns, led to the in¬ 
troduction of Norman or Alderney bulls, at some 
period of the eighteenth century, with the precise 
date of which we are unacquainted. Never was 
there a more fortunate cross." 
But it appears that St. Quintin made other im¬ 
portations. Rev. Henry Berry, in his pamphlet 
entitled “ Improved Short Horns and their Preten¬ 
sions written in 1824, says, at pages 16, 17— 
Sir William St. Quintin imported cows and bulls 
from Holland ; and it may be added that from him 
Sir James Penniman, who possessed estates in the 
counties of Durham and Northumberland, and was 
desirous to extend the breed further north, obtained 
the cattle necessary for his purpose. From these 
he presented six cows and a bull to Mr. George 
Snowden, of Hurworth, his tenant." It should be 
remembered that ‘‘ Snowden's bull," so called, was 
the sire of Hubback. 
The same importation is probably alluded to by 
Culley in his “ Observations on Live Stock, 7 ’ pub¬ 
lished in 1785. He says—“ About 70 or 80 years 
ago, one of the St. Quintin family introduced a bull 
and some cows from Holstein." The same writer 
notices other importations, as follows:—“ I remem¬ 
ber a gentleman of the county of Durham, a Mr. 
Michael Dobison, who went in the early part of his 
life into Holland, in order to buy bulls; and those 
he brought over, I have been told, did much service 
in improving the breed; and this Mr. Dobison and 
his neighbors, even in my day, were noted for hav¬ 
ing the best breeds of short-horn cattle, and sold 
their bulls and heifers for very great prices. But 
afterwards, some other people of less knowledge 
going over, brought home some bulls that in all 
probability introduced into that coast the disagree¬ 
able kind of cattle well known to the breeders upon 
the river Tees, and called lyery, or double-lyered, 
that is, black-fleshed, for one of these creatures, 
notwithstanding it will feed to a vast weight, and 
though you feed it ever so long, yet will not have one 
pound of fat about it, neither within nor without." 
The animals of these various importations were un¬ 
doubtedly crossed with the stock previously in the coun¬ 
try, and (with the exception of the last named.) pro¬ 
bably aided in producing the variety to which the term 
improved short-horns," has been properly applied. 
We did not commence this article with a view of 
giving a full account of the short-horns—improved 
or unimproved; but there is one important fact to 
which the testimony here quoted tends, that should 
be borne in mind, viz: that the improved short-horns 
are a mixed breed, produced by crossing. Much 
other evidence of a like nature might be adduced, 
and even Mr. Stevens’ “history," so far as it means 
anything, tends to the same end. 
Sept. 
Litters from Prof. Norton—-No. 0. 
On the Importance of Extended Chemical laves* 
tigations. 
Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, ) 
New-Haven , Conn., August 5th, 1859. } 
Messrs. Editors —It may seem to many that the 
time has long passed, when it was necessary to 
write for such a paper as the Cultivator, on such a 
topic as I have selected for the theme of my present 
letter. I think, however, that a little reflection 
will convince any impartial and observing mind 
that we have as yet only begun to impress the great 
mass of the farming community, with a due sense of 
the importance of this subject. 
It is common to say, that there has been a change 
within a few years in this respect; that farmers are 
now rapidly becoming convinced that there is some¬ 
thing to be learned from scientific investigation: 
this is all true to a very great extent, and I will 
even acknowledge that in many districts, direct en¬ 
couragement to such investigations has been given. 
Our numerous and flourishing agricultural societies, 
and ably conducted agricultural journals, are all so 
many evidences of advance, and of an awakened 
spirit of inquiry. 
The farmers that one encounters at the shows of 
these societies, and those who take these journals, 
are as a class, ready to admit that there remains 
much to be done before they can be said to fully un¬ 
derstand even the practice of their profession ; and 
also that they are prepared to believe in the possi¬ 
bility of deriving great advantage from the labors 
of scientific men. 
If all these things are so, it may be said, why 
complain of the farmers? why say that they hold 
back in the cause of improvement? This objection 
would have much force, were it not for the fact that 
after all, the class of which I have spoken, consti¬ 
tutes but a comparatively small part among the 
great agricultural population. Even the admirable 
shows of the State of New-York, fail to collect 
more than a small proportion of her farmers, al¬ 
though the actual concourse is immense. How 
many thousands there are in that State who scarce¬ 
ly know that such a show is ever held, excepting 
perhaps when it chances to come into their immedi¬ 
ate vicinity. Many other States have no State 
show of any description. In a county with a 
population of a hundred thousand, it would be 
considered a successful agricultural show, which 
should draw together a thousand or two of people; 
and a gathering of more than two or three hundred 
of these to hear an address, on some scientific or 
practical topic, would be thought quite creditable. 
There are of course exceptions to this state of things, 
but I now speak of the country in general. 
These facts no one can controvert; it seems then, 
that after all, but a comparatively limited portion 
of the farmers are aroused, even to the necessity 
and advantage of these simple steps towards im¬ 
provement. Again, in going through our villages, 
how many people do we find, who never read any 
of the agricultural newspapers or periodicals, and 
who are ready to declaim against them all as useless 
How limited is the sale of even the largest and most 
ably conducted of these periodicals, compared with 
what it ought to be, if all appreciated its value. 
But I desire to go a step farther, and to leave 
out of the question all those who may be considered 
entirely uninterested and incredulous on the subject 
of improvement; and to ask, how far can we de¬ 
pend on those who attend fairs and shows with 
