Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1882-11-03
An American Breed OF Cattle.

Is it not about time that American
farmers began to consider the question
whether America should not have n
breed of cattle distinctly her own, and
one that shall be better adapted to the
wants of the average American farmer
than either of the European breeds
have yet proved to bep Every lecturer
will tell us that if our object be butter
making, we should select the Jersey or
Guernsey COW; if beef be the object of
our attentions, we must secure the
Short-horn or Here ord; if working OK
en-, the Devon will be the animal, and
if milk production for the city market,
then we should choose the Ayrshire or
Holste," This might be good enough
advice il we never had but one object
in keeping animals, but such is rarely
the case. The breeder of oxen can not
possibly raise his oxen without some as
sistance from the COW, and it is found
very convenient to have the cow give
good mess of milk for her steer calf,
and little beside for the use of the
farmers family.
The butter-maker does not like to be
obliged to go outside his own herd
whenever he wishes to raise up pair
of cattle to do his plowing and other
farm work, nor does the owner of any
breed of COWS like to feel that his milk
machine at the last end will be worth
less, except to the bone collector and
fertilizer manufacturer. We are aware
that many have derided the idea of q
general purpose" COW or horse, and
have claimed that no one animal can
fill all sorts of places, which is true in a
certain sense. A very heavy horse can
not be very fleet horse, nor can a
light, nimble cow that is adapted to
climbing steep mountain sides for her
scanty food, be expected TO return her
owner a very heavy, fat carcass at the
end of short season of pasturage.
Different classes of animals are adapted
to different localities, and the best for
one locality or kind of business is not
usually equally well adapted to other
localities or to do different kinds of bus
mess, and yet we believe that the
American people, with their varied
fering objects in view, could after all be
better served by a breed of cattle COM
bining certain of the good qualities of
all the prominent foreign and native
breeds. in due proportion. than they
ever can be by adhering to 80 many
breeds with such varying character
istics
What we want is cow of good size,
SO that her steer calves will, when
grown, make oxen that can draw full
load. Her form should be such that
when her days of usefulness are begin
ming to be numbered, she will bring a
good price at the butchers, and she
should be so good mixer that she can
feed her own calf, and afterward supply
the family with milk, butter or cheese
for a number of months. 1t is not nee
essary that SHE should be so much given
to milk that she cannot be dried of with
safety before calving. The general
purpose COW. weighing from nine to
twelve hundred pounds alive, should
produce steers that will easily weigh
thirty hundred pounds per pair at four
to five years old, and she should be able
to give from twelve to sixteen quarts of
milk per day for five or six months, that
will make pound of butter per day, or
two hundred pounds per yesa. Such
COWS can be found among nearly all our
foreign and native breeds of cattle. and
they are always in demand. Just as a
good, lively, intelligent, round built, ten
hundred family horse is always in de-
mand. Such animals will find more
buyers than any other class, simply be-
cause they are adapted to the wants of
greater number OF persons than is any
other class.
The time must come sooner or later,
when an animal will be valued according
to its ability to 10, and not for its family
connections alone. and when that time
does come, the great mixer of one
breed will be on about the same level
with the great mixer of another breed,
and the beef animal will be valued not
SO much on account of his place In the
herd book as from the fact that he can
lay on more pounds of good meat on his
bones for the amount OF food consumed,
than can some other animal. 1t Is true
that We have NO American breed of cat
| tie now. There are few farmers scat
tered here and there, over the country,
who have ion longer or shorter period
been breed ng American COWS with
SKILL and good judgment. There are a
| few such herds in the vicinity OF
Worcester, Mass. They have descended
from some extra good mother cows. and
their offspring are doing credit both TO
their parentage and to their breeders, -