Litchfield enquirer., 1873-07-17
Thorouah-Rred Stock.

1 On our first page will be found an ad- dress, recently delivered by Judge Bryant, of Madison, before the Wisconsin Agricul- tural Convention. To the old fashioned farmer or the non-sympathetic editor the Judges talk about Jersey cows may seem little enthusiastic Nevertheless, the current of opinion among skilled agricul- turists is not running far behind his eu- 1 logy. Our farmers are waking up to the excellence of this breed of animals, and shrewd, practical butter-makers are every where becoming desirous of owning some of this noted stock.
 l To the farmers of this vicinity the es- tablishment of stock farm in our midst, devoted to the production of pure blood ed Alderneys, and where some of the finest specimens of the breed in the country are to be found, is a matter of general inter est. Such farm has lately been started by Mir. F. Ratchford Starr on Chestnut Hill, about a mile east of this village Having so injured his health by too close attention to office duties that he was obliged to retire from them, MT Starr bought the Law farm of about 130 acres, a few years since, and by draining, grub bing brush, clearing off stone, by fencing with solid walls through almost the entire tract, and by the most careful cultivation, he has got it into excellent condition. As an instance of it's preduc- tiveness, 14l tons of hay were cut on the meadow next his residence, of seven and half acres, remarkable yield for this dry season. A recent inspection of the herd-book of the Jersey Cattle Club, of which MT. Starr is a member, interest ! ed us much, little as we know of practical farming. The bull ''Litchfe1d," from "Hopewell" and tLa Belle Helene, :" both imported animals of superior breed, is beautiful animal, of solid color, just the creature for Rosa Bonheur to immortal ize on canvass. -.-.. The uninstructed editorial eye of the Litchfeld Enquirer ordinarily detects very little beauty in a COW. Yet the thorough bred has a certain neatness of outline and a certain genteel air we do sometimes re- cognize. To the neatness and quality of other thorough-breds the Attorney adds a peculiar deer-like quality of eye and hair that makes it a really pretty animal, Perhaps this pecularity is one of those f 4a &o mote predecessor, the common ancestor of both deer and kine, which, naturalists tell us, now and then occur. MT. Starr's seven Alderney COWS are all very fine spe- cimens of their breed, especially 'Rose- bud, the Fourth" a selection made by him with much care from one of the best Alderney herds in Pennsylvania. Her calf by Litchfeld' is as perfect as the perfection of both parents would lead the cattle breeder to expect.
 Mr. Starr's herd of six pure Alderney yearlings and six pure Alderney calves would delight the stock-breeder's heart. Nothing in this vicinity can equal them, and probably they cannot be surpassed in the country. They, as we'll as the COWS, show their pedigree unmistakeably. A yearling bull, in the next stall to Glitch field" seemed to us, also, as perfect an animal as his bigger neighbor.
 Adjoining the farmhouse, across the way from the family residence, is the milk room containing the refrigerator and all the appliances of well supplied dairy. There we saw some of the famous egilt- edged" butter peculiar to the Alderney cattle: one variety churned directly from fresh milk another, from cream. Even the highly unscientific editorial taste dis covered a difference between the ''gilt- edged" and the ''grade" store butter with which unfortunately we are considerably judgment we usually rely pronounced specimens of the cream and butter of un- supposedly good quality. A butter worker which saved all the handling and half the labor of the common process was marked feature of the dairy furniture.
 A short distance from the farm house MT. Starr has lately built g fine barn for hay, grain, &c., and he proposes soon to build another and 8 much larger one for stock. When his Improvements are completed, Mr. Starr's farm will have few if any equals in the State and all farmers in this vicinity who are desirous of obtain ing -blooded Alderney stock in per. lection ought certainly to visit him.
 Mir. Starr gives us curious receipt fol butter-making which he, and others ln this village, have repeatedly tried with success |: dig hole in the ground about two feet deep; tie a quart or so of cream in stout cloth; put it in the hole; cover with earth. In about fourteen hours the cream will have been converted into ex- cellent butter. -.,- ..s.
 Luckily the license law, if not 1mprov- ed is not injured by the present legisla. ture. The minority of the committee on spirituous liquors reported bill that would have increased the efficiency of the present law considerably; but it unlucki.