256 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
NOTES ON VERMONT FARMING. 
(Continued from page 221.) 
Cattle. —Much less attention is paid to the improve¬ 
ment of cattle in this section than to sheep. Several 
years since some cattle from Connecticut, whose blood 
has not been duly ascertained, were brought here and 
considerably improved the stock. Some Durhams have 
been introduced, and herds are frequently met with in 
which traces of this blood are to be seen. Mr. Paris 
Fletcher, of Bridport, has a bull showing some fine 
points, purchased of George Vail, Esq., of Troy, and got 
by his bull Duke of Wellington. Mr. F. showed us 
some good yearlings and calves by this bull. Mr. Cha’s. 
L. Smith, of Bristol, has several cows showing more or 
less Durham blood. Among them is a large, strong¬ 
framed, and well-made cow, said to have been imported 
as a full blood Durham. Several of his cows have the 
appearance of being large milkers. Mr. Wightman 
Chapman, of Weybridge, has an Ayrshire bull, present¬ 
ed him by J. P. Cushing, Esq., of Massachusetts.* 
He is a good bull—has a small, clean head, and clean 
limbs, a w r ell-shaped body, anil mellow skin. With the 
exception of Mr. Archibald's bull sent to the Pough¬ 
keepsie show from Montreal, he is decidedly the best 
Ayrshire bull we have ever seen. We saw in the neigh¬ 
borhood several very fine heifers by this bull, which 
have just come to milk. Their appearance is very 
j romising, and we have no doubt they will make su¬ 
perior cows. Indeed we have no doubt that this bull has 
qualities which would greatly improve the stock of the 
neighborhood for all purposes. 
At Mr. Hyder Barnes’s, in the town of Addison, we 
saw an uncommonly large ox. He is six years old, has 
as yet only been fed with hay and grass, and was at 
pasture in only good store trim. His girth at the chine, 
by our admeasurement, was eight feet six inches. In 
July last, (a year ago,) he weighed twenty-six hundred 
and twenty pounds. He is one of the largest oxen we 
ever saw in the same state of flesh, and if thoroughly 
fatted, would probably come nearly or quite up to the 
weight of any which have been slaughtered in this 
country. Though noifine his shape is better than that 
of such very large animals usually, and he may fatten 
well. His blood is not known. His color is a rather 
light red. with a white face, and narrow strip of white 
along the back. 
We saw some good stock in the vicinity of Vergennes. 
Mr. Rodman Chapman introduced a bull here several 
years since, that we understood was bred by Colonel 
Jaques, of Massachusetts, which, from what we saw and 
heard, evidently much improved the stock. Mr. Chap¬ 
man now has a cow by this bull, which is one of 
the best animals we saw in Vermont. Mr. B. 
Cook, of Charlotte, has a young bull and two heifers, 
which appear to be nearly full blood Devons, purchased 
in Litchfield county, Ct. They are pretty animals, the 
bull particularly so. 
It is a matter of no less surprise than regret, that farm¬ 
ers in general in this superior grazing section, should be 
so indifferent to the quality of their cattle. While they 
have beeome generally awakened to the improvement 
of their sheep, and have become possessed of a highly 
profitable variety, they seem not to be aware that equal 
advantages would accrue from a systematic and judicious 
cultivation of the breed of cattle. We will not attempt 
to say what particular breed would be best adapted to 
this location. We have no doubt the introduction of the 
best bulls of either the Durham, Hereford, Devon, or 
Ayrshire breeds, would be productive of improve¬ 
ment. 
It may serve to correct an error, if we remark here 
that we were in some instances shown stock under the 
name of Durham, which were a burlesque on that cele¬ 
brated breed. If certain blue-skinned,, black-eyed, black¬ 
nosed, coarse-boned animals, are thought to be Dur¬ 
hams, we cannot wonder at the prejudice which appears 
to exist with some against the breed! 
Horses. —Vermont, in common with New-Hampshire, 
* For a cut and description of this bull, see eighth vol. Cultiva¬ 
tor, p. 101. 
has been much celebrated for its excellent horses,—dis¬ 
tinguished for the quality of activity, great strength in 
proportion to size, ability to live and labor on compara¬ 
tively little food, with remarkable hardiness and endu¬ 
rance. We shall not attempt a minute history of the 
Verm or t horse—this would be fruitless. He is undoubt¬ 
edly a mixture of several breeds. The first settlers, who 
were principally from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and 
Rhode-Island, carried with them such stock as they had. 
Connecticut and Rhode Island were in possession of val¬ 
uable horses at a period as far back as the commence¬ 
ment of the American revolution. The horse called 
Ranger ,—aster wards known in Virginia as Lindsey’s 
Arabian, said to have been an Arab, presented by the 
Emperor of Morocco to the commander of a British 
frigate, and by the latter subseqently given to the captain 
of an American vessel,—was brought to Connecticut, 
and became the sire of a numerous and very superior 
progeny. General Washington’s celebrated grey charger, 
was said to have been got by this horse. The Naragan- 
setts of Rhode Island, (so called from being bred in the 
vicinity of Naragansett bay,) were famous at as early a 
day as the horses of Connecticut. What those Narragan- 
setts were, we know not—it has been said they sprung 
from an imported English Hunter. 
It is reasonable to suppose that the early emigrants to 
Vermont, took with them mares of these stocks ; and 
from the contiguity of the state to the province of Lower 
Canada, there has always been a greater or less infusion 
of the blood of the Canadian French horse, which came 
originally from Normandy. The stock thus derived has 
been variously commingled, and mixed also with other 
blood introduced at different times. The rugged features 
of the country, the rigor of the climate, the mode of feed¬ 
ing, and the general management, have all tended to pro¬ 
duce a hardy race, as well as to assimilate them in some 
degree to a general standard of points. 
But the greatest celebrity of the Vermont horses has 
been unquestionably derived from a particular animal 
commonly known as the “ old Justin Morgan horse.” 
This horse is, we believe, universally admitted to have 
been the root of the famous race, to which the name of 
Morgans has been given, though there has been some 
diverse accounts of his origin. The most authentic his¬ 
tory yet obtained, and which, so far as it goes is undoubt¬ 
edly entitled to full belief, is given by a son of Justin 
Morgan, bearing his father’s name, and now living in 
Stockbridge, Vt., [see Cultivator vol. IX, p. 99.] Mr. 
Morgan states that his father removed to Randolph, Vt., 
from Springfield, Mass.,—that in the year 1795 he visit¬ 
ed Springfield, and on his return to Randolph took with 
him a “ two years old colt, which was the same that has 
since been known all over New England as the Morgan 
horse.” Mr. Morgan does not state anything in regard 
to the blood of the colt, but is confident his father ob¬ 
tained him in the vicinity of Springfield. This state¬ 
ment of Justin Morgan 2d, is confirmed by John Mor¬ 
gan of Lima, N. Y., [Cult., vol. IX. p. 110,] who states 
he was a near neighbor of Justice Morgan senior, previ¬ 
ous to his removal to Vermont. He recollects the colt 
purchased by Justin Morgan, which he states was got 
“ by a horse owned by Sealy Norton, of East Hartford, 
Conn., called the * True Britton.’ ” This horse was said 
to have been stolen from Gen. Delaney, commander of 
the refugee troops on Long Island, during the Revolu¬ 
tionary war. The Delaney horse is said to have been 
nearly or quite thorough bred. [Skinner’s Introduction 
to Youatt’s Treatise on the Horse, p. 54.] 
This we believe comprises all that is positively known 
in regard to the blood of the first Morgan horse. His im¬ 
mediate descendants were numerous, and remarkable for 
their good qualities, and striking resemblance to each 
other. Indeed so remarkable was their similarity that 
they were readily recognized by ordinary observers. 
Even when crossed with the common country stock, 
their peculiarities were often obvious to the second and 
third generation. A horse called “ Sherman Morgan,” 
got by the “ old Morgan,” and owned by Mr. Bellows, 
of Bellows’-Falls, Vermont, is generally believed to 
have done more towards giving “character and fame” to 
the Morgan stock, than any other horse, not excepting 
