1854. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
13 
over their best native calves to the butcher, will breed 
from them, I believe that between the two classes of 
effort we shall not fail of obtaining the best stock for 
our climate, that both classes of breeders will deserve 
well for their country; and if not recklessly imprudent, 
will find a reasonable compensation. The other opinion 
is, that Englishmen, with their feed, fine as are their 
cattle in the fat, beautiful, plump, perfect, absolutely 
faultless form, can never make as good beef as we on 
Indian com. Their joints on the table, done up every 
where in exquisite good taste, look as well as ours, and 
I think better. But then the favor —it is wanting. If 
you want to see good beef, come to London ; if you 
want to eat better, go to Boston, Albany, New-York— 
any where on that side. I hope I am not specially an 
epicure, but as often as I think of the Connecticut val¬ 
ley stall-fed oxen, the cows of no great pretensions on 
our hills, or the two and three year olds even, that roam 
in our dry pastures, I long for home. 
The mutton of this country is as much more deli¬ 
cately flavored than ours, as the beef is inferior. I 
know not what the reason is, but the fact is unques¬ 
tionable, and I do not wonder that the English people 
love mutton, and consume immense quantities of it. 
While I have been writing the foregoing, in a room 
too public for consecutive thought, a gentleman from 
Wilts has said to me, that he has a farm in that county 
on which is a pasture of 260 .acres, and of excellent 
quality, which has been managed nearly uniformly for 
more than half a century, the last 25 years by himself. 
He keeps on that pasture 60 large and nearly thorough¬ 
bred milch cows, of the Durham breed; 10 two years old 
heifers, 12 yearling heifers, and 10 cows that have be¬ 
come 7 or 8 years old, and are to be turned off each 
year as beef, making 92 in all. The calves are kept 
the first year in another lot, and are disposed of vari¬ 
ously, except that 12 are selected each spring for the 
dairy, and are put with the eows in the great pasture. 
Thus the number of cows actually in milk is kept at 
60, 12 yearlings being added as often as 10 cows are 
taken out, to guard against loss by disease or accident. 
He tells me that the annual produce of the pasture is 
22,400 lbs. of cheese, 4,000 lbs. butter, 14,000 lbs. of 
beef, and refuse valued in pigs, about £80, besides from 
40 to 50 calves, over and above the 12 necessary to 
keep the number of the herd good. He says that if 
he kept cows for milk only, he would have Alderneys 
by all means; that they give more butter and cheese 
in proportion to their keep, but as he turns off 10 a 
year Tor beef, the Durhams give him 1400 lbs. each, 
whereas the bodies of the Alderneys are little better 
than those of goats. He says farther, that his brother, 
who farms in a similar way, had, sixteen years ago, 
only Hereford^, but that he has now exchanged them 
for nearly full blood Durhams, and is much pleased 
with the change. He also says that these large Dur¬ 
hams give very little milk in proportion to their keep ; 
but it is remarkably rich, almost cream, and he is con¬ 
vinced that for him, at least, they are more profitable 
than any others. Whether his testimony is correct, is 
more than I can say. His appearance is that of a man 
of intelligence and candor,of one who knows what he is 
about. I should think that the general opinion here 
is inclining favorably to the Durhams, for the central 
and southern counties of England. What are best for 
America, must be an American question, and it must, 
as I have before stated, be settled with reference to 
points, which are not here taken into the account. 
Possibly, a brief account of a visit recently made by 
me to one of the best herds in England, might not 
weary your readers. Through the kindness of B. P. 
Johnson, Esq., secretary of your state society, I was 
furnished with an introduction to H. Strafford, Esq. 
Through my own fault, not his, I did not see him till 
last week, Among other acts of kindness, which I 
shall ever remember, Mr. Strafford brought me ac¬ 
quainted with Mr. J. S. Tanqueray, of Hendon. Mid¬ 
dlesex, seven miles from London, the owner of the herd 
just alluded to, as among the best in this country. I 
saw Mr. T. at his place of business, in this city, where 
he kindly invited me to take a seat in his carriage, 
and visit his place out of town. In company with Mr. 
Strafford and Mr. Toxford, principal editor, and I 
believe, proprietor of the Mark-Lane Express ; Mr. 
Tanqueray accompanied us, and a most pleasant and 
agreeable trip I assure you it was. Mr. Tanqueray 
is the farmer of three or four hundred acres; has a 
beautiful country residence ; possesses, I believe, a 
large property, made by his own energy, and certainly 
has a heart to enjoy it. His herd is of the short-horns 
vs. Durhams, containing upwards of one hundred ani¬ 
mals. Among the first lot shown us, were the recent 
purchases from the celebrated Tortworth sale, of the 
late Earl Ducie’s stock, of which accounts have been 
published by yourself and others. In this lot was the 
far-famed cow, Duchess 55, bred by the late Mr. Bates, 
of Kirkleavington, three of whose calves have lately 
been sold for the astonishing sum of 2,300 guineas ; 
Grand Duke, to Mr. Thorne, of New-York, for 1,000 
guineas ; Duchess 64, to the same gentleman, for 600 
guineas; also, the daughter of this cow, Duchess 66, to 
Col. Morris, President of the New-York state society, 
and Mr. Becar, of New-York. This beautiful heifer 
is now at Hendon, under the care of Mr. Tanqueray. 
These gentlemen also joined Mr. Tanqueray in the 
purchase of a bull at the sale of Earl Ducie’s stock, 
called the Duke of Gloucester, for 650 guineas; and 
rather than lose him, they were prepared to give higher 
for him than, ever was given for an animal of this cha¬ 
racter. He is the son of the bull mentioned above, 
and promises to fully sustain the character of the herd, 
tracing his genealogy direct from the Colling’s stock, 
through Mr. Bates’s and Earl Ducie’s breeding. It 
will be observed that at the Tortworth sale, three of 
his calves sold each for 300 guineas or more, one of 
them a calf, at the time, of only a few weeks old, real¬ 
izing 310 guineas. This last was from the heifer of 
Messrs. Morris and Becar, which, at the time of the 
sale, was under three years old, so that the heifer, at 
this early age, and her calf, but a few weeks old, 
brought upwards of 1,000 guineas. Mr. Tanqueray 
also purchased Duchess 69, from the same cow as the 
