State Convention—Grass is King. 399 
invaluable; although for ordinary farm business and on the road, 
the Devons are probably more useful, because of greater quickness 
of pace, and also on account of being easily mated, as a conse¬ 
quence of more thorough breeding. The short-horns being of the 
lymphatic style, are not so quick or muscular as the Devons or 
Herefords; but, when required for meat, will respond to any reason¬ 
able demand. As to dairy or milking qualities “ honors are divided” 
between the short-horns and Devons. After centuries of competi¬ 
tion and rivalry between the Yorkshire and Devonshire breeders, 
the laurels seem to be going into the hands of the breeders of the 
royal family of short-horns called Duchess or Princess, which 
is merely a Durham with a mansard. It is of very little conse¬ 
quence, however, what breed of cattle a farmer prefers or keeps, 
unless he will treat his stock according to the most approved sys¬ 
tem adopted by judicious, careful, and presistent breeders. If a 
stingy policy is to be pursued, get goats instead of cows, and 
exchange your horses for Shetland ponies or dwarfed donkeys; but 
if a nobler and better policy is contemplated, aim for excellence, 
developed in all its length, breadth, and strength. 
GRASS-CULTURE FOR DAIRY-COWS. 
The most important and valuable paper that has been contrib¬ 
uted for many years to agricultural literature in America was last 
year presented to the consideration of a convention of distinguished 
American dairymen, by Mr. A. VV. Cheever, of the New England 
Farmer, who related his successful experience for twent}^ years in 
the culture of grass for dairy-cows. A copy of his valuable paper 
on that topic will be placed in the hands of your Secretar} 7 , and 
should be published for the benefit of western farmers. 
Mr. Cheever objects to feeding dairy-cows upon dead corn-stalks, 
straw or ripened grain, and over-ripe hay, which is little better than 
straw, when it is just as easy and more profitable to supply them 
with the best fodder our land can be made to produce. His first 
aim, after getting good butter-cows and suitable conveniences, is to 
secure the largest possible amount of the best fodder. Experiments 
repeated time and again have convinced him that the crops of grass 
on his Massachusetts farm are almost invariably worth more for 
fodder the year they are sowed than the grain and straw together 
would be worth, if grain instead of grass was made the leading 
