PROCEEDINGS—EXECUTIVE MEETINGS. 
43 
Wednesday, Feb. 8 — 2 o’clock, P. M. 
The board met as proposed at 2 o’clock. 
Present—all the members in attendance during the first 
session. 
Consideration of premium list resumed. 
In the cattle department there were several propositions to 
amend the list of 1870; one to increase the prizes offered on 
Devons, Ajrshires, and Alderneys, which gave rise to a some¬ 
what lively discussion. 
On the one side it was maintained that the breed best adapt¬ 
ed to Wisconsin, all things considered, was the Durham, and 
that it should therefore be more especially encouraged; that 
the Devons, though superior as working cattle, were not so val¬ 
uable for beef or milk, and hence could not be considered so 
valuable for our use. 
On the other hand, it was urged that the beef-producing 
qualities should not of themselves overrule every other con¬ 
sideration ; that the Durham had but little if any advantage 
over the Devon as a milker ; while in other respects the latter 
breed was superior to the former; and finally, that so long as 
there seemed to be an honest difference of opinion—a fact suf¬ 
ficiently evidenced by the exclusive attention given to the 
breeding of Devons by some of the most enterprising and suc¬ 
cessful stock men of the state—it was not the true policy for 
the State Agricultural Society to make any difference. 
In support of this general statement of policy and duty on 
the part of the society, it was urged by the secretary, that, 
while there was at present a manifest tendency towards an in¬ 
crease of the dairy business in Wisconsin, and the society had 
given its encouragement directly to this interest; and while, 
moreover, it was generally conceded by those best informed on 
this subject, that the Ayrshire excelled all other breeds in the 
quantity of milk, as did the Alderneys in quality, no proper 
encouragement had hitherto been given to either of these 
breeds. 
