1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
331 
LITCHFIELB ACKICILTIRAL SOCIETY. 
The exhibition of this Society for the present year, at 
which we had the pleasure o being present, was he'd 
at Litchfield, Ct., on the 27th and 28th of Sept. In 
the aggregate, the exhibition afforded undoubted and 
gratifying evidence that a general improvement is pro¬ 
gressing in the husbandry of the county. We believe 
this was the tenth anniversary of the society, and the 
display was considered equal to any former one. In 
one of the most important departments, working oxen 
and steers, the show was larger than on any former 
occasion. There were about one hundred yoke. Their 
general appearance was better than that of the cattle 
usually exhibited at the shows we have attended. They 
were mostly of medium size, nearly all of a red color 
—a great proportion of them mixed more or less with 
the Devon blood. The best working oxen are here, a 
very profitable description of stock, as they not unfre 
quently bring $150 per yoke. 
The Devons were introduced to this county by Le¬ 
muel Hurlbut, Esq., in 1819, and seem destined to 
become here the leading stock. At present, the full 
bloods are in comparatively few hands; but the crosses 
of various grades are numerous. Few or none of the 
former have as yet been tried here for work. The on¬ 
ly question in regard to their fitness for this purpose is, 
that they may not be quite large enough for the hea¬ 
viest work, or to command the highest prices. We 
think this point requires some attention, and that the 
stock should be selected and bred with a view to ob¬ 
taining the requisite size. Attention should also be 
given to their dairy qualities. If they are properly cho¬ 
sen in the first instance, and are carefully bred and 
reared, we are inclined to think, from what we have 
seen of the breed, that they will be found well suited to 
the climate and soil, and general purposes of this dis¬ 
trict. 
Judging from the cattle exhibited at Litchfield, we 
should conclude that the important quality technically 
ealled handling , had not received much attention from 
the breeders. We regretted to find that the hides of 
a large proportion of the stock were rigid and unelas¬ 
tic, and instead of a soft mossy coat, were covered 
with straight, stiff hair, shining like bristles. The 
hard skins and hard quality of flesh to which we al¬ 
lude, have perhaps in some instances been the result of 
too much attention to a particular color, without due 
regard to the properties which constitute the real value 
of animals. The touch is the best indication of the 
thrift and quality of flesh, and at the same time it cer¬ 
tainly does not lessen the capacity of the animal for la¬ 
bor or for the dairy. In examining the oxen ex¬ 
hibited on this occasion, it was found that the best 
for work, were almost invariably the best handlers, 
and we are confident that attention to this quality 
would result in increasing the general value of the 
stock. 
The working oxen were tried with a stone-boat or 
drag, heavily loaded. This, though perhaps, a fair 
test of the muscular power of cattle accustomed to 
pull in this way, does not afford so good a criterion of 
their discipline, and aptitude for ordinary labor as a 
trial on a loaded cart or wagon, at a hill. 
There were many oxen tried on this occasion, several 
of which exhibited surprising strength and ambition. 
Of those we had the opportuniry of seeing, we noticed 
particularly the pairs owned by Moses Lyman, of Go¬ 
shen, L. Hurlbut of Winchester, J. N. Blakeslee 
and Philo Hard, of Watertown. Mr. H.’s were smal¬ 
ler than the others, but of handsome form, quick and 
sprightly action, and when brought to the task, dis¬ 
played a degree of intelligence, courage and power, 
that would have been creditable to the proudest courser. 
There were undoubtedly others deserving of notice, 
which we did not see tried. 
Premiums were offered for the best lots of cattle, not 
less than ten in number, and there were several compe¬ 
titors under this head. Mr. Hurlbut of Winchester, 
showed twenty-nine head, twenty-six of which were 
full blood Devons, all except one or two bred by him¬ 
self. He had twelve cows which would have compar¬ 
ed favorably with any Devons we have ever seen at any 
show. His young stock were good, and teveral of 
them superior. His bull Bloomfield , five years old, 
weighing 1700 lbs. in only fair condition, is a capital 
animal—fine and blood-like in his points, and a nice 
handier. 
Loren Thrall, of Torrington, showed thirty-six 
head, including three yoke of oxen. He had fourteen 
cows of various ages, some nearly full blood Devons, of 
good form, and many of them of good appearance for 
the dairy. 
Mrs. Vesta Hawkins, of Watertown, showed six¬ 
teen head of cattle—ten of which were oxen and steers. 
The lot made a creditable appearance. 
Mr. Griswold, of Torrington, showed a lot of very 
good cattle—the number we did not learn. 
Of milch cows , we noticed two very superior ones 
belonging to the President of the Society, Moses Ly¬ 
man, Esq., of Goshen. One of these we understood, 
was a full blood Short-horn, and the other a mixture of 
that breed. Few cows that we meet with anywhere, 
show better points for the dairy than these. Gen. F. 
Buel, of Litchfield, showed a “ native ” cow, remark¬ 
able for her yield of milk. He stated that her milk 
was weighed from the 21st of June to the 21st of Au¬ 
gust, and that it ranged from 33 to 44 pounds per day 
during that period—her feed, ordinary pasture. We 
noticed, also, two very fine looking cows, offered by 
John G. Gillet. 
There were but few animals exhibited as fat cattle. 
We noticed a pair offered by R. I. Canfield, of New- 
Milford. They were bred in Monroe county, N. Y.; 
were four years old—weight 4,600 pounds. Their 
blood appears to be a mixture of Durham. Both are 
good, but one of them, for quality and ripeness, is sel¬ 
dom equalled by any of that age. 
The show of horses was not large. The only stal¬ 
lions we noticed were Timoleon, owned by J. H. Tut¬ 
tle, of Torringford—bred by Mr. Satterthwait, of 
Morristown, Belmont county, Ohio; and Membrino , 
owned by L. Thrall, of Torrington—bred by Mr. 
Burton, of Washington, Duchess county, N. Y. These 
were horses of good figure. 
The sheep were less numerous than we expected 
from the number and high standing of the flocks of this 
county. There were some good Merinos offered by L. 
Thrall, and Stephen and George Atwood, of Wa¬ 
tertown; and some fair Saxons by Mr. Griswold, of 
Torrington. N. B. Smith, of Woodbury, showed a 
few good South Downs. 
The swine were few in number, but mostly of good 
appearance. 
The plowing match, we must in candor say, was the 
least interesting part of the exhibition. The soil was 
light, inclining in some places to gravel, but mostly 
free from stones that would offer any hindrance to the 
