The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1840-05-05
II he H. "a r. Ree G a. I.
From the Albany Cultivalor.
IMPROVE YOUR BREED OF CATTLE.

Messrs. Editors-I am small Iaryman, and
am anxious to have the best COWS. Those l
have at present. are of the common breed, red
and good looking animals, and have taken
some pains in the selection of pretty good milk
ers. But find by experience that good COW
may have Il poor calf, in other words, that
shere is no certainty that the progeny of a
good mixer will possess the quality of the pa
gent. Is there no way TO ensure such result,
,ol can not Il cross be given that will give good
lnkers with good degree of certainty. I
should like to have your opinion ON this point;
and also on that Of the best means of Obtaining
such certainty.
1NquIRER."
Experience shows, to make any permanent
change in brced of cattle, is the work of time
and skill; and the procuring breed possessing
the desirable quality of being good mixers, and
having such qualities permanent and certain,
can not he expected without calling into action
the facts collected by long series of expert
meuts and observation. That it can be done, the
success of Mr. Jaques in the production of his
celebrated cream pot breed, of which Mr. Coe'
man has given so interesting an account in his
Report on the Agriculture of Massachusetts,
ofthe common stock with an intermxture of the
Short Horn foreign blood, and by careful selec.
ton of the best of the breed, for milk of superior
quantity and quality, he gave them the dstinc'
ton they have. Justly obtained. That the course
pursued by this gentleman would be successful
in the hands of others we have no doubt; and a
similar process we should recommend for this
purpose.
"Inqnirer' says his cows good mixers for
common ones. Let him then cross them with
n full blood Short Horn ball, and the progeny
would hardly fail of being good mixers. Let
him continue the process, not of breeding from
these crosses. but selecting the best mixers from
them, for crossing, us at first, with the pure
Short Horns. III this way there would Doubt
less be animals Of the quality required; and in
time, these qualities would become constitution.
al and of course permanent.
We would recommend the Short Horns for
;his purpose, because their excellence for guam
ti,y and quality Of milk, is placed by the expert
cnce of great dary,nen about London beyond a
doubt. Mr. Youett says tha-"Thc number or
cows kept for the purpose OF supplying the m
habitan,s with milk, is about ttcelue thousand
They are, with very few exceptions,o of the Short
Horn hreedS-tle fiOhiernesS, or OfKShire cow,
and almost invariably with a cross OF the inn
u, oved Durham blood. The universal prefer
ence given to this breed by snch body OF men.
is perfectly satisfactory as to their value, and
that on three distinct points" These are, first,
the quantity of milk, and as these cows are kept
for their milk, the single fact OF their being Sc
ected by those men Of experience, is in itself
demonstra,ive. The second point is the quality
of The milk; and though the cream of these
cows is secondary article OF profit, yet they
are found better even on this point, as a whole,
than any other breed that could be selected;
and thirdly, as few of these cows are allowed to
breed, but are (atened as dried up, the fine beef
and its high prices, turned out from these diaries
proves that good milking and easy fattening are
compatible with each other.
In confederation of these statements we may
add that many of the imported Short Horns in
this country have proved superior mixers, and
indicate qualities in this respect deserving oil
particular attention in breeding. The Rev. Mr.
Berry's stock, so famous in England for their
excellent qualities, were Short Horns, and were
rs highly prsed for their milk as for their snpe'
rority in other respects.