Litchfield enquirer., 1881-06-30
Auction sale of some of MT. E. Ratch.
 ford Starr's Echo Farm Jerseys.

Mir. Starr entered upon new and untried ground when he sent so many of his magpifi- cent Jerseys to Hartford, to be disposed of at auction, without limit as to price, except in the case of the bull "Litchfeld." The nat ural growth of this herd, numbering nearly two hundred, rendered it necessary for MT. Starr either to make extensive additions to his already immense barns, which he does not wish to do at present, or to dispose of some of his animals at public sale. Having, for sev- eral years. contemplated an annual sale, when his herd became large enough to warrant this, he resolved upon making the experiment.
 Mir. Starr's object in selecting Hartford in- stead of New York, was to awaken an inter- est in such sales which would encourage other owners of Jerseys in this state to unite with him in yearly repetition of them. The site chosen is certainly admirably suited for such purposes. Charter Oak Park is one of the most attractive places of the kind-if not the most attractive-in the country. It is amply provided with sheds and barns for keeping cattle and affords unusual facilities for ex hi5iting stock at the time of sale. The results, however, were not equal to Mir. Starr's expec- tatiOns, though the prices obtained the second day of the sale went far to make up the def- ciencies of the first day. While there are not few Jersey breeders of eminence in this state the number is too limited to warrant a de- pendence upon them for such an extensive sale as was Mir. Starr's. It was supposed that buyers from other states would attent in lar. ger numbers than were present on the 23d and 24th inst, and it was owing to their absence that much higher prices were not realized, for it is freely admitted that the same number of such superb Jerseys has never before col- lected in this country. Though Mir. Starr feels that he would have obtained much more had his seventy three animals been sold m New York, he has the satisfaction of knowing that his inaugural sale of last week has open en the way for similar operations in the future and it remains to be seen whether other Jer- sey owners in Connecticut will cooperate with him in carrying out a project which tC, and to the owners of Jerseys, not only here, but throughout the country. for it must not be forgotten that Connecticut took the lead in the earliest importations of Jerseys. and made it's selections before the best class of that breed had been taken from their Island home. The descendants of those early importations of Mir. Taintor and Mir. Norton are to-day holding the highest rank in many of the states of the Union, and in Canada. They have done much to give Mir. Starr's herd it's great reputation. Were the prominent Jersey men of our state to unite with Mir. Starr, they could annually bring together such a collec.
 ton of choice animals as would irresistibly
 draw buyers from every section of our coun.
 try, and from abroad.
 It is generally conceded that the best of the Jersey breed of cattle are now in this country
 the inevitable consequence of so many years of selection by excellent judges of American. ] and for Americans. To doubt that this bring
 ing away the best, leaves those of less value. would be to doubt that less than half remain. ed were eight taken from the number twelve. Though the prices realized by Mir. Starr a, his sale last week, were not 80 large as at re. cent auction sales in some other states, the average price was good in view of the fac, that several of the animals included in the sale were well advanced in age-some IA and 10 years old-and nearly half of tue remain. der were very young, many dropped this year.
 Locust brought $SO5; Ariadne 4th, $40 Echo's Polonius. $4s5 Irene Stoddard, $s7o John Rex. $500. The proceeds of the sale
 amounted in all to $11, ,679.
 All the purchasers seemed much pleased
 with their bargains, and we'll they might
 Some boasted that they paid but half the val
 ue Of the animals they bought which is un
 doubtedly the case, and proves the excellence
 of the Echo Farm herd. Mir. Starr wisely
 put limit of one thousand dollars on his bull ''Litchfeld, asum much below the OWL er,t l estimate of his worth old os ha |. A u...