THE CULTIVATOR. 
Jan. 
the six hundred pounds of butter was made, and were, 
besides, fed eight dollars worth of grain (made into 
meal) each. He had engaged two of the pigs to go to 
Boston, at eight cents per pound, dead weight. It is 
very easy to see that Mr. M. had realized a pretty good 
income from his cows ; the milk and butter, leaving 
the pork out of the account, gives to each cow forty- 
three dollars. 
In the article in our November number, to which we 
have before alluded, we spoke also of the Suffolk 
breed of swine, some of which have been imported, by 
William Stickney, Esq., of Boston. While in that 
vicinity, we went out with Mr. S. to his residence in 
Roxbury, where he keeps some of his swine. The spe¬ 
cimens of this breed, which we had before seen, were 
mostly too young to justify a positive idea of what they 
might be when they had reached maturity. But we 
had now an opportunity of seeing, besides several pigs 
and young shoats, two barrows which were about six¬ 
teen months old, and were soon to be slaughtered ,* and 
though we had before formed a highly favorable opinion 
of the breed, we must acknowledge that their aptitude 
and capacity for acquiring fat, is even greater than we 
had supposed. The two barrows alluded to, are cer¬ 
tainly extraordinary animals—possessing uncommon 
bulk and weight of carcass, with very little bone and 
offal. We shall probably receive an account of their 
dressed weights. We saw several persons who have had 
pigs of this breed from Mr. Stickney, and they inva¬ 
riably spoke of them in the highest terms as a profitable 
stock. They stated, that merely for fattening, it was 
better, on the score of economy, to pay six dollars a 
piece for the Suffolks, at six weeks old, than to buy 
the country stock at Brighton market, at the usual 
rates. In fact, after what we have seen and learned 
of them, w’e should not be disposed to doubt the state¬ 
ment of Mr. Rham, author of the Dictionary of Agri¬ 
culture, that “ the Suffolk breed of pigs is, perhaps, 
on the whole, the most profitable of any in England.” 
At the State Lunatic Hospital, Worcester, and seve¬ 
ral farms in that neighborhood, we saw very good hogs 
which exhibited evident traces of Bedford and Mackay 
blood. At Mr. Henry Strong’s, Northampton, we 
saw five capital hogs, which would then have averaged 
five hundred pounds each, dressed. Mr. Horatio Sar¬ 
gent, of Springfield, has some very good hogs, a cross 
from Mr. Webster’s Mackay boar with Berkshire 
sows. 
Cattle. —The cattle of Massachusetts were, no 
doubt, derived in the first place chiefly from England, 
though it is not unlikely that some were procured from 
Wales, and some from Ireland. As many of the first 
settlers emigrated from Devonshire, it is, with good 
reason, supposed that they brought with them the cattle 
of that district. In fact, it is thought by many, that 
the characteristics of the Devon breed largely predomi¬ 
nate in most of the common, or what are called 
11 native” cattle of the state. We are hardly prepared 
to assent to this position—we admit that the stock pos¬ 
sesses traits in common with the Devons ; but among 
the best of them, we think there are equally as strong 
indications of the Sussex blood. The proximity of the 
English county of Sussex to the coast, and its conve¬ 
nient access to vessels fitting out for America, renders it 
quite probable that this was one of the districts to 
which the New England colonists resorted for procur¬ 
ing their first domestic animals. We are not, however, 
aware that any authentic record exists of the early 
importations, and these remarks are only offered hypo¬ 
thetically. 
But, within the last sixty years, importations have 
been made, at various times, of the Bakewell, or Dish- 
ley Long Horns, the Holstein, and Dutch Short Horns, 
various families and subvarieties of the English Short 
Horns, the Devons, the Herefords, the Ayrshire, and the 
Alderneys, besides one bull, at least, from Russia. Most 
of these have been introduced within the recollection of 
the writer, or the last thirty years, and the dates of many 
of the importations might be given. The blood of 
these different varieties has, of course, been mingled in 
a greater or less degree with the general stock of the 
state, and the several strains are frequently distinctly 
traceable in what is called the “native” breed. Yet 
there are a few neighborhoods, where the cattle have 
been for some time kept in a measure free from inter¬ 
mixture, and there they have considerably assimilated 
to an uniform character ; though this character is not 
that of any English or foreign variety that we have 
ever seen described. 
The oxen of Massachusetts, particularly those of 
Worcester, and some other counties, have long been 
celebrated for their fine appearance and excellence in 
the yoke ; indeed, their performances are often a mat¬ 
ter of surprise to persons unacquainted with the natural 
capabilities of the ox, and who have seldom witnessed 
the development of his powers under the exercise of 
proper skill in breeding, rearing, and management. 
The attention of a stranger is often attracted by the 
noble teams of oxen which are so frequently met with 
in the city of Boston and vicinity ; and he seldom fails 
to notice their spirited and lively air, and the brisk and 
springy walk with which they move along their heavy 
loads. Most of these fine oxen are educated, if not 
bred in the county of Worcester. The towns of Sut¬ 
ton and Charlton, are especially distinguished for this 
description of stock. There are men here, with whom 
the breaking of steers, and disciplining and fattening 
them for sale, is made a profession. As great pains 
are taken in selecting and matching them, as to color, 
shape, weight, temper, &c., as skilful jockies bestow on 
their horses. Nor is scarcely less pains taken in their 
grooming. Their skins are kept clean, and their coats 
bright and smooth by the daily use of the curry-comb 
and brush ; their long, tapering tails are neatly shaved 
or trimmed, leaving only a handsome tuft at the end ; 
and their slender, gracefully-turned horns, ornamented 
at the tips with bright brass balls, are scraped and 
polished till they are almost as clear as if they had been 
wrought by the comb-maker. Red is the color mostly 
preferred, though some are brindled, and a few have a 
little mixture of white. Their training is commenced 
at a very early age, being frequently put under the 
yoke when not more than six months old. The 
object, however, is not to work them at this age ; 
but only, by accustoming them to the necessary ma¬ 
noeuvres, to gradually fit them for labor when they 
shall have acquired sufficient weight and strength. 
They are usually sold for the purpose of being put 
steadily to work at the age of four to five years, and 
the usual prices they bring are from $100 to $150 per 
pair, those of very extra quality sometimes fetching 
much higher prices. 
Those who have attended the plowing-matches and 
other trials of working oxen in Massachusetts, have 
seen something of what these animals can do. In a 
fair competition at the plow, on soils of every descrip¬ 
tion, they have seen them rivalling, and even surpass¬ 
ing the best horses, both for speed and quality of work. 
A single yoke is sufficient for turning a good furrow, in 
ordinary soil, and though the plowman is his own dri¬ 
ver, such is their discipline, and the exactness of their 
movements, that they require but very little attention 
The live weight of these oxen, from four to seven 
years old, when in ordinary working condition, may be 
rated at from thirty to thirty-six hundred pounds per 
pair. A few of them reach forty hundred. The me¬ 
dium sized ones are preferred as being in general more 
active and more hardy. When fattened, they weigh 
