1847 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
when relief was fairly given and danger past, and he 
was let loose, he looked around upon his benefactors 
with an expression of gratitude that would have deno¬ 
ted nobility of soul in the most exalted of our own spe¬ 
cies. W. Bacon. Richmond, Mass., 1847. 
M. Guenon’s Treatise on Milch Cows—Ayr¬ 
shire & Devon Cows. —I have read Guenon’s Treatise 
upon milch cows, and have been a pretty close observer 
of the marks which he considers indicative of their value 
for MswJk. I do not believe the criterion given by him 
to be infallible. I have known some excellent cows for 
milk, where there was no development of what he calls 
the “ escutcheon.” In the region of their milk vessels, 
there were none of those marks and lines which are 
formed by the different and opposite directions in which 
the hair runs. One of the best Ayrshire cows imported 
by the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agricul¬ 
ture, one that yields a great quantity of very rich milk, 
and if allowed, would give milk to the time of her calv¬ 
ing, does not exhibit the slightest trace of the “ es¬ 
cutcheon.” The hair about the milk vessel all running 
in the same direction, no marks or lines are formed to 
constitute the escutcheon. The same appearance I have 
noticed in some other cows of unquestionably good milk¬ 
ing properties. If, then, there are some cows which 
yield large quantities of milk, and which exhibit none of 
those marks in the region of the milk vessels, M. Gue¬ 
non’s rule of judging of the value of a cow, cannot be of 
universal application. 
But I must allow that when these marks are deve¬ 
loped, the form and size of the escutcheon, formed by 
them, is a pretty sure indication of the quantity and du¬ 
rable yield of the cow’s milk. I can understand why a 
well formed udder, a large milk vein, and a capacious 
abdomen, accompanied by a soft and yellow skin, should 
be considered as indications of valuable properties in a 
milch cow; but why these marks which are formed, as 
above stated, by the hair running in different and oppo¬ 
site directions about the milk vessel, should be a sure in¬ 
dication of the quantity of milk the cow will yield, any 
more than the marks and lines which are produced by 
the same cause in other parts of the body, I cannot ex¬ 
plain nor understand. I am willing, however, to con¬ 
fess, that when these marks do exist, they furnish a 
very sure guide in judging of the value of cows, and 
though I would not consign a calf to the butcher merely 
because it did not exhibit these marks, when I knew 
that the stock from which it descended was good, yet 
without the knowledge of this fact, I am willing to say 
that I should from these marks derive much aid, and be 
greatly influenced in my selection of young heifers that 
it would be desirable to rear. In this consists the chief 
value of M. Guenon’s theory. Most people can judge 
of the milking properties of a cow that has arrived at 
maturity, by other and more decisive marks than those 
pointed out by him; but as these marks are as fully de¬ 
veloped in the calf of ten days old, as in the cow of ma- 
turer years, the farmer may, by observing them, decide 
with more certainty of success, as to which of his calves 
will be most likely to contribute to the value of his dai¬ 
ry stock. 
Upon the whole, then, I would say, that as far as my 
observation has extended, there are very good cows 
which exhibit none of the marks and lines which M. 
Guenon calls the escutcheon, the hair of these cows 
about the milk vessel all running in the same direction; 
but where these marks and lines are plainly seen, his 
theory as to the size and form of the 11 escutcheon ” is 
correct, and furnishes a pretty sure indication as to the 
value of the cow. 
You ask my opinion as to the stock imported by the 
Massachusetts Society. I had long known the charac¬ 
ter of the Ayrshire stock for dairy purposes, having for 
some years kept some of this stock owned by the Socie¬ 
ty. The Scotch farmers in and about Ayrshire, have 
been striving for more than half a century to produce a 
stock in which regard was had almost solely to their 
value for the dairy; and there is not perhaps in Europe, 
nor in the world, a race of cows that will secrete more 
and better milk from a given quantity of food, that are 
so hardy, so easily kept, that will fatten so kindly when 
off their milk, as the Ayrshire. Tl$ specimen of this 
stock, four cows and a bull, imported in October, 1845, 
were selected by an agent sent out for the purpose, who 
had lived in Ayrshire, and was familiar with all the best 
herds of cows in that country. As milkers they have 
fully sustained the high character which was entertained 
of that stock. The North Devon cows were selected 
from the celebrated stock of the Earl of Leicester, and 
the bull was purchased of Mr. Bloomfield, and are all 
fine specimens of that beautiful breed of cattle. They 
are not so deep‘milkers as the Ayrshire, but for all the 
purposes of the New-England farmer, are perhaps quite 
as valuable. We have now ten calves from the last 
importation of cows, eight of which are bull calves. 
The North Devon bull u Bloomfield,” is very much in 
the same condition as when you saw him. He was at¬ 
tacked some months since with bronchitis, under which 
he still labors, and from which he will probably not re¬ 
cover. This is the more to be regretted as the speci¬ 
mens of his stock which we how have are very fine, and 
one whose pedigree is so good, could hardly be obtained 
in England. E. Phinney. Lexington, Mass., 1847. 
Advantage of Economy in Various Matters.—• 
I have thought it might not be amiss to say something 
in reference to the great waste of coarse fodder in the 
grain-growing districts of our country; together with 
some other matters of smaller moment, relating to the 
economy of time and labor. I suppose farmers that 
most need hints on such subjects, do not generally read 
the Cultivator, or any other paper devoted to agricul¬ 
ture; yet by refreshing the memories of those that do, 
good may be done, and the light of well established 
facts, not only revived, but disseminated. 
Corn fodder, by long exposure in the field, loses one- 
half of its nutritive qualities, and by housing or stack¬ 
ing in a damp state, and feeding in an improvident 
way, the one-half of what remains is also lost. Corn 
should be cut up by the ground, as far as practicable, 
before we have severe frosts; and it will pay tenfold 
for extra care and labor, in securely housing in a dry 
state. A light feed of cut corn fodder, well cured, 
night and morning, in a clean, warm stable, with straw 
fed in boxes, through the day, will keep cattle through 
the winter in as good condition as they are in at the 
commencement. 
Buckwheat straw, when well cured and housed, is but 
little inferior to hay; and the chaff is eaten by cattle or 
sheep with little less eagerness than oats; the chaff 
of fifty bushels of oats, is worth one feed of hay for 
four hundred sheep; and corn cobs ground with a small 
portion of hard grain makes good feed for cattle or 
sheep. 
Much is lost by uncomfortable exposure of stock to 
cold and storms. By carefully saving and economically 
feeding all coarse fodder, I have no doubt one-fourth 
more stock may be well wintered, in any of the grain¬ 
growing districts of this state, than is at present poorly 
wintered, in the usual wasteful way of saving and feed¬ 
ing. 
There is a great want of economy in door fastenings 
for out-buildings, mostly in the time it takes to open 
and shut them. I find none so convenient and durable 
as good wooden ones, the catch so constructed as to let 
the latch slide easily over it, ,and the latch heavy 
enough to fall easily into the catch. 
There is also great waste of time in branding or 
marking sheep, to say nothing of the trouble it gives the 
