54r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
gradually become very much alike. In this 
way all the breeds of cattle and sheep have been 
established, and it is usually the case that such a 
breed of animals is peculiarly well adapted to 
the uses of the district in which it is formed, 
(better, indeed, than to any other), and that it 
loses more or less of its distinguishing characters 
when removed. In the place of its nativity, a 
breed is therefore prized; and the views taken 
by intelligent breeders establish a uniformity of 
taste, in color, size, and points, which after a few 
generations give rise to differences between the 
cattle in contiguous valleys, or islands, as in the 
case of the Channel Islands. To a close observer 
noticeable peculiarities are usually seen even in 
the cattle of neighboring parishes, or even farms, 
if the herds have not been much crossed. * 
The group of the Channel Islands consists 
of six, the principal of which are Jersey, 
Guernsey, and Alderney; Jersey being the 
largest and Alderney the smallest. This group, 
which is subject to the British crown, lies in the 
bay of St. Michael, off the coast of Normandy 
and Brittany in the North of France, and is 
famous for butter, cider, perry, and parsnips, and 
for a race of peculiar cattle distinguished for 
the richness of their milk. 
The original stock from which the different 
breeds into which this race has become natural¬ 
ly divided sprung, was doubtless from the adja¬ 
cent main-land, and was,perhaps, also essentially 
influenced by animals brought from a distance 
which might easily have been landed from ships 
touching at the islands. Since the cows of 
these islands have become so valuable and 
sought after in foreign countries, the greatest 
jealousy has sprung up that no taint of foreign 
blood should be justly inputed to the breed of 
any farmer; so that now the cattle of each 
island, particularly of Guernsey and Jersey, 
have been quite free from any foreign intermix¬ 
ture for many years, and every year their charac¬ 
teristics are better defined. 
Dr. Twaddell, in an account of a visit to the 
islands given before the Philadelphia Agri¬ 
cultural Society not long since, said that there 
are 3,000 Jersey, and 1,200 Guernsey cows, ex¬ 
ported from the islands every year. 
The name Alderney, frequently given to this 
breed, is essentially a misnomer, for it is admitted 
that the cattle of the island of Alderney are a 
mixture of Guernseys and Jerseys, and not of 
so uniform a character as those of either, and 
hence not entitled to be considered a distinct 
breed, and certainly not to give the name to the 
breed which is found so much more uniformly 
characterized upon the island of Jersey. 
We present an engraving of a fine bull belong¬ 
ing to Col. Hoe of Westchester County. It was 
accurately copied from a photograph, which 
will account for a little stiffness of position. 
Walks and Talks on the Farm.—No. 50. 
“ What is the best kind of cow for me to 
keep,” asks a suburban friend, “ the object being 
to get good rich milk without special regard to 
quantity ?” 
It would seem an easy matter to answer such 
a question; and, indeed, I replied at once “ Ald¬ 
erney.” But further conversation led me to the 
conclusion that the Alderney, instead of being 
the best, would be one of the worst cows, for my 
friend to buy. In the first place, be could keep 
but one cow; and in the second, he wanted 
milk every day in the year. In such circum¬ 
stances no other plan can be adopted except to 
buy a milch cow and keep her as long as she 
gives the requisite amount of milk ; then sell 
her and buy another. A grade Devon would 
perhaps be the best of all cows for such a pur¬ 
pose. She gives rich milk, and with liberal 
feeding,would steadily improve in condition, and 
could be sold to the butcher for as much as she 
cost. I have known a cow of this kind to give 
milk every day for five years, and then be worth 
for beef a good deal more than she cost. 
The fact is, we may as well give up talking 
about thorough-bred cattle for ordinary pur¬ 
poses. The real question is, not whether the 
Short-horn, Devon, or Hereford, affords the best 
beef at the least cost, but which breed gives us 
the most valuable “grades” when crossed with 
common cows. We understand pretty accurate¬ 
ly the merits of the different breeds, but little is 
said in regard to the qualities of their grades. 
Of course when we know the characteristics of 
the tliorough-breds, we can form some idea of 
the merits of their grades, but there are ques¬ 
tions in regard to them that need to be more 
fully discussed. I can easily see how a Short¬ 
horn grade from one of our best native milch 
cows would give more milk than a thorough¬ 
bred Short-horn cow. 
Mr. Willard, of Herkimer County, was here 
last week, and we had a long talk about dairy 
matters and his visit to England. He found, 
what I have always asserted, that in the me¬ 
chanical appliances for making cheese we are 
far ahead of the Cheshire farmers. Our best 
factory cheese is also better than the Cheshire 
cheese and brings a higher price. In Cheshire 
little or no grain is raised. The land, as in the 
dairy districts of this State, is devoted almost 
exclusively to grass. But in the Cheddar cheese 
districts more grain is grown, and the farmers 
pursue a mixed system of husbandry. The 
farms afford a much larger aggregate amount 
of produce. They keep as many cows on a 
given area, and get a considerable amount of 
grain besides; and the cheese brings a higher 
price. I want to see the same system tried in 
the grain growing districts of this State. 
One thing surprised me. It seems that the 
general system adopted in Herkimer County is, 
to keep the cows as long as they give a fair 
quantity of milk—say till they are 12 or 14 years 
old, and than sell them for “ barrelers.” Cows 
that in their prime w r ere worth $100 a head are 
kept till they are “ used up,” and then sold foi¬ 
ls, $8, or $10. Many such cows have been 
sold the past few months for $5 a piece. Now 
it ill becomes an outsider to condemn a practice 
adopted by intelligent farmers after many years 
of observation and experience. It is fair to 
presume that there is, or has been, a good reason 
for the practice. I can understand how such 
a system originated. When new milch cows 
could be bought for $25 a head, and good beef 
was worth only 2 cents per pound, live weight, 
it would not pay a dairyman to keep cows with 
reference to anything else than the amount of 
butter and cheese that could be forced out of 
them. I have known the owner of a saw-mill, 
when the slabs accumulated to an inconvenient 
extent, to take out the machinery from the mill 
and set fire to the whole thing, and then rebuild 
on the clear space. This was the quickest and 
cheapest method of getting rid of the slabs. 
So too, when my farm was cleared, eight acres 
of the heaviest timbered land was chopped 
down and set fire to in a single j r ear. It was 
probably the best thing that could be done with 
it. At the present time such timber would be 
worth four hundred dollars an acre. Now what 
■ would be thought of a farmer who was so -wed¬ 
ded to old customs as to continue this method ? 
Choice beef now commands a higher price in 
the markets of New-York, Boston and Philadel¬ 
phia than in any other city in the world. Do 
we fully comprehend the bearing of this fact on 
our agriculture ? 
Last week I was in New-York and went to 
the old Bull’s Head Market (now removed up to 
100th street). It was the Monday before Christ¬ 
mas, and yet the quality of the cattle was, as a 
general rule, of the poorest description. It was 
a soft, rainy day, and one of tine salesmen re¬ 
marked : “They’ve got us to day; last week 
we had them.” Prices fell half a cent to a cent 
per pound. And yet I saw one pair of six year 
old cattle sold for $500, or 20 cents a pound, 
“estimated dressed weight.” They were large, 
coarse, grade Short-horns ; not by any means of 
choice quality, but very fat. I have a grade 
Hereford cow, six years old, that has been giv¬ 
ing the richest of milk all summer (though not 
in large quantit}-) that would now make far bet¬ 
ter beef than these steers. She has fine bone, 
thin skin, bandies superbly, and has a great ten- 
tency to fatten. 
It takes more food to produce a pound of 
cheese than a pound of beef; and yet the latter 
commands the higher price. There is danger 
of glutting the cheese market; there is no present 
danger of glutting the beef market. We are 
brought into competition with all other nations 
in the production of cheese, while we have a 
monopoly of the best beef market in the world. 
Suppose a dairy farmer raises his own cows. 
They prove to be good milkers, and he keeps 
them till they are twelve and a half years old, 
and then sells them for $10 a piece. 
The heifer comes in, say at two and a half 
years old. Up to this time she has cost, say $50. 
And after that her keep, say, costs $50 a year 
for ten years ; or $550 in all. She produces, 
say $75 a year for ten years, and sells for $10; 
or $760 as the total produce. Profit $210. 
Take the other system. The heifer comes in 
at two and a half years old, as before, and has 
cost $50. You then keep her till she is eight 
years old ; say five and a half years keep at $50 
a year, or $275, or $325 in all. She produces 
$75 a year for five years, or $375, and then sells 
for $80 to the butcher, or $455 in all. Profit 
$125. Another cow then comes in, costing the 
same and producing the same. 
The profits are $250 in the one case against 
$210 in the other. But this is not all. The old 
cows do not give as rich milk as the younger 
ones. And it is worthy of consideration whether 
the calves of such cows are as strong and 
healthy, and whether they are not more subject 
to disease. Milk being the only object, there 
can be little doubt that the dairymen select 
heifers from cows that are “ deep milkers.” and 
also use males from the same stock. The dairy¬ 
man uses all his skill to induce a great flow of 
milk. He does not ask which is the most nu¬ 
tritious food, but which will give the most milk. 
Health, strength, vigor, constitution ; fat, flesh, 
and bones, are all sacrificed, if need be, for milk. 
Breeding, feeding, treatment, all aim at milk. 
Many of our so called native cows have no 
equals in the world for milk. We have cows 
that produce 600 pounds of cheese in a year, 
and a hundred pound calf besides. Such a cow 
has great digestive power and being fed liberally 
may herself stand this enormous drain, but it 
will inevitably tell on the offspring. As “like 
produces like,” the tendency to produce milk is 
there, but not the strength to stand it. What is 
