superior dairy cow, though no accurate tests have been made with her milk. Her dam, Flora, is somewhat known to fame, her milk, during one year, having yielded 511 pounds of butter. She was then in her sixth year, and was kept in milk the whole time, for the purpose of ascertaining her capabilities for butter.

THE YORKSHIRE BREED is a sub-variety of the Short-horn. It is not that which has been denominated the "Improved " Short-horn, or Durham breed, whose leading characteristic is the production of beef. Both may be said to belong to the Short-horn tribe, but there is as much difference between the milking and fattening varieties, as between cattle which are frequently considered of distinct breeds. A district of Yorkshire, called Holderness, has long been famous for cows giving great quantities of milk, and they have been called the Holderness breed. The term Teeswater was formerly applied to some of the Yorkshire cattle, they being kept extensively in the valley of the river Tees. The modern Yorkshire has generally a dash, more or less, of the Improved Short-horn, which has given more tendency to fatten than the old stock possessed, and enables dairymen to turn off their old cows for beef to better advantage. Still, the difference between the Yorkshire dairy cow and the beef-making Short-horn is considerable. Haxton, in giving the points of a modern Yorkshire cow, says: "The chest deep and prominent, and not too wide-the latter characteristic being peculiarly that of the Improved Short-horn cow, who is a manufacturer of flesh and not of milk. The girth behind the shoulder more remarkable from being the result of depth of chest than breadth; thighs rather flat and thin, and hind-legs rather dog-houghed than straight. The skin of the Yorkshire cow is probably her worst feature, being rather too thin and devoid of hair, to be compatible with hardiness and strength of constitution."

It is as a milker merely, without regard to quality of milk, that this milking variety of the Short-horn is especially valuable. It is highly prized by the London dairyman, with whom quantity of milk is the object. It is said that, in some of these dairies, the Yorkshire cows give an average of 4,000 quarts (wine measure) in a year. The cows are highly fed and well sheltered, and, under these circumstances, do not feel the want

of hardiness and vigor which in some other situations would be required. Haxton, having spoken highly of the Yorkshire cow as well adapted to the purposes of the metropolitan dairyman, says: "It must be admitted that she is neither so good for a cheese or butter dairy, as some of the smaller breeds. In the former case, quantity of milk is the desideratum, while in the two latter, it is quality or richness. Were the Yorkshire cow employed either for the production of cheese or butter, the refusewhey and butter, milk, or skimmed milk-would be much greater than that yielded by milk of a richer quality; and in consequence of this, the profits would be considerably diminished. In a milk dairy there is no refuse; and should the consumers in large towns complain of the inferior quality of the milk sold them, they should remember that they cannot enjoy the luxuries of the country and those of the town at one and the same time. The consumer is entitled to be served with milk as it comes from the cow," &c.

The author just quoted gives, as another reason why the Yorkshire cows are kept in the London dairies, that though cows of smaller breeds "may give a larger quantity of milk in proportion to the food consumed, yet they occupy stalls which would hold larger animals," and that space in such cases is valuable.

THE LONG-HORN BREED formerly occupied a prominent position among British cattle, but, for several years past, has been diminishing in numbers. They were considered very superior dairy stock-especially for cheese making-and they are still preserved for that purpose, in some districts. They are of large size, perhaps second only to the Short-horns, rather slow in arriving at maturity, but hardy, and remarkable for longevity. It was this stock-originally occupying Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, &c.,-that Bakewell produced his celebrated fattening stock from, called the Dishly or Improved Leicestershire breed. Milburn says that a good Long-horn cow will give 400 pounds of cheese, and produce as many gallons of milk in a year. Their milk is rich, and they are considered good stock for the butter dairy. Few, if any, of the old race of Long-horns have ever been brought to America. Bakewell's variety was introduced into Massachusetts. Kentucky, New

York, and other sections. As before stated, they were noted chiefly for fattening. The Long-horns in England are frequently crossed with Short-horns, and the progeny are called "Halfhorns." They are considered profitable in some neighborhoods for the dairy.

THE KERRY BREED belongs to the hilly and mountainous sections of Ireland. There is no account of any of this breed having been introduced into the United States; but from the descriptions of British writers, it would seem that the Kerry cow possesses properties which would render her very valuable in some portions of New-England, New-York, and other sections, where hardiness of constitution, and ability to live on rough and short pastures, are important requisites. Youatt describes the Kerry as "emphatically the poor man's cow, hardy, living everywhere, yielding for her size abundance of milk of good quality." Milburn says, "her placid countenance, patient, meek deportment, fine head and legs, her small tail, flat shoulders, breast and quarters, and her skinny udder and large milk-vein, bespeak the characteristics of the milker, and well they may, for she is a treasure to the cottage farmer-so hardy that she will live where other cattle will starve; she will yield milk at the expense of her own muscles, and will give it also of a quality, so good that she is a perfect machine for converting the coarsest cattle-food into rich and nutritious milk and butter." Our own countryman, Rev. Henry Colman, states in his "European Agriculture," that he found in Ireland a dairy of five cows of this breed, which had yielded an average of 320 pounds of butter each, actually sold in a season. Haxton considers the Kerry cow a very valuable animal, especially to the hill farmer." He states that in Mr. Crosby's dairy, at Ardfert Abbey, composed mostly of Kerries,-the herd averaging from 28 to 80 cows, the quantity of milk given by each cow, on a careful trial for seven years in succession, was 488 gallons, or 1,952 quarts, in a year; that a pound of butter was yielded by eight quarts of milk, which gives 244 pounds as the annual produce of each COW. He states that one pure Kerry cow, in this herd, gave 2,725 quarts of milk in ten months. If her milk was as good as the average of the herd, her annual yield in butter would be 340 pounds. To furnish an idea of the size of this animal, her

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dimensions are given, and it was estimated that, when fat, she would give 448 pounds of beef, exclusive of the hide and loose. tallow.

Such are the principal dairy breeds kept in Britain and the United States. It may be well to glance at some of the prominent beef breeds, as follows:

THE IMPROVED SHORT-HORN, OR DURHAM BREED.-Without entering into particulars in regard to the origin of this variety, it may be assumed that, for a mild climate and abundance of nutritious food, it is not excelled by any other breed for the production of beef. It matures at a very early age under favorable circumstances, and though the flesh is not equal in quality to that of some other breeds, and does not bring so high a price in some markets, yet from the facility with which it can be produced, the profits it affords are highly satisfactory. Some advocates of this breed, not content with the superiority conceded to it for the shambles, have also claimed for it supremacy in dairy properties, In relation to this claim, the following estimate deserves attention. Haxton says:

"The Short-horn cow, of this improved breed, is everything that could be desired as regards symmetry and aptitude to fatten. * She is not a dairy cow, in the strict sense of that term, and under ordinary circumstances of food and climate, she is not equal to many other breeds far inferior in every other respect. A pure Short-horn, or Durham cow, or even a three-parts bred one, is an unprofitable animal for a butter or cheese dairy, not merely because her milk is usually deficient in richness, but because of the delicacy of her constitution. * The pure Short-horn, or Durham, can neither withstand cold nor heat, nor sudden transitions of temperature, without suffering injury; in the former the flow of milk is arrested by the expenditure of the food in maintaining the vital energy, which is below an average in all animals of a lymphatic temperament, and in keeping up the normal or natural heat of a carcass, always very large in proportion to the vital organs. Great heats, or sudden alterations of temperature, are also found to act very injuriously on the milking properties of the Shorthorn cow, in consequence of their weakening and enervating effects on a constitution not naturally the most robust. Of course these causes are also injurious to other breeds of dairy