Cattle for the Country Plaee 
HOLSTEIN BULL -PUTNAM VALLEY FARM, PATTERSON, NEW YORK 
a hundred times that the best cow is the common 
cow—that is a cow of no particular or of mixed breed, 
an animal occupying the same place m the bovine 
world that the yellow dog does in the canine. 1 hose 
in whom such ideas have lodged had as well skip this 
article for they will hnd no comfort in it, though they 
may hnd amusement in scoffing at theories with 
which they cannot agree. Mongrelization leads to 
decadence, decay and deterioration. Suffer it to 
happen and the milk and beef supplies would both 
fall off. 
1 he great problems in cattle breeding are to get 
quality and quantity of beef and milk at the least cost 
for feed. It is not to be presumed that on ordinary 
country places where herds are kept that cattle for 
beef will be bred; but many country gentlemen 
do this. Of such cattle the shorthorns and the 
Herefords are the best. Personally I prefer the short¬ 
horns as they are also good milkers. In America a 
generation ago the shorthorns were greatly in fashion 
and even many English breeders attended our sales 
to get breeding stock to take back home. At a dis¬ 
persal sale near Utica, New York, some thirty years 
ago a young shorthorn cow 
of the noted Duchess 
family was sold, for the 
fabulous price of ^40,600. 
I'his inflation of prices 
had a had effect on the 
breed as farmers could not 
afford to pay the service 
fees, and inferior bulls 
were used. At this time, 
hovever, more reasona¬ 
ble prices prevail and the 
stock is at a high standard 
of excellence. 
These shorthorns and 
Herefords have practically 
driven to extermination 
the old longhorns that holstein cows- 
supplanted the buffaloes on the West¬ 
ern plains. 
Py using hulls of these superior 
breeds the old longhorn herds 
of the c o w h oy d a y s have been 
graded up to extinction. But the 
longhorn served his purpose well, 
i he cows gave little milk and the 
steers made poor beef, hut in the 
time when the herdsmen had to de¬ 
pend entirely on the natural water 
courses the herds had often to be 
driven miles to get a drink. 1 he 
longhorns — lean, hardy and fleet 
of foot could stand this kind of life; 
the bulky shorthorns would have 
perished of fatigue. 
But 1 suspect the readers of this magazine are more 
interested in dairy cattle. If one cow or a few are to 
he kept 1 recommend one of the Channel Island 
breeds, either the jerseys or the Cluernseys. 1 he 
latter I prefer because they have always seemed to me 
to be hardier and stronger and not quite so prone to 
the tubercular diseases. Both give milk of most 
excellent quality and rich in butter, hut the quantity 
is not so great as that given by the Holstein cows and 
some others. On a country place we want everything 
to be beautiful. Nothing could he much lovelier 
than a herd of Jerseys or (juernseys grazing in a 
clean, rich pasture. They are very deer-like in 
appearance. Even tethered on a lawn they add 
rather than detract from the beauty of the place. 
Some practical person may want to know whether 
keeping cows of these superior breeds pays. I am 
sure I can’t say; I can say this, however, it pays as 
well as anything else a country gentleman does— 
it gives pleasure and satisfaction. Cows pay as 
well as a hunter pays or a yacht or a motor car. The 
herd of Holsteins of Mr. Aaron S. Baldwin’s 
Putnam Valley Earm at Patterson, N. Y., pays 
PUTNAM VALLEY FARM, PATTERSON, NEW YORK 
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