"FIGARO."-BRED AND OWNED BY ORIN TROW, HARDWICK, MASS. By imported "CONSTERNATION."

Hight, 16% hands. Weight, 1,200 lbs.

at present, to breed these to the neglect of the other. And it requires no small amount of judgment and foresight to determine in which line of distinct breeds he shall fight his way to present pecuniary success or future permanent advantage to himself and to the community.

At the threshold of these experiments stands the bull. Any defect here can be remedied only by long and skilful effort in eliminating the same; and the value of the imported bull lies much in this, that he is the result of such care in the experiments, as the breeders of Europe have been enabled to devote to this subject, over the imperfect manner with which breeding has been conducted among us. To attain equal results here requires the same knowledge and care that have existed there; and no society devoted to the cause of agriculture has accomplished its work until it has entered upon such a course of action as shall induce the farmers connected with it to pursue the best known methods of attaining these desirable results. That something has been done in this direction by the Hingham Agricultural and Horticultural Society is made apparent when we institute a comparison of the stock at its several exhibitions. That more systematic methods are needed in order to make the society as useful as is desirable is also very apparent to any one who has been called upon to serve on the several committees on stock. From this defect in system your Committee were unable to gain that knowledge, in relation to the several animals on exhibition, which was important for them to possess, in order to make a fair award of premiums. But few of the exhibitors or their representatives were at the pens to give such information; and most of the stock embraced under the head of calves was so scattered and interspersed among other stock, and in many cases so imperfectly indicated by the cards upon the pens, that your Committee have doubts whether they succeeded in discovering all that were on exhibition; and they present their award of prizes with no great degree of confidence that their award indicates any remarkable degree of skill and judgment in discovering the occult qualities which undoubtedly exist in the very excellent specimens subjected to their inspection, and whose comparative merits were passed upon by their award.

Q. BICKNELL, Chairman.

NANTUCKET.

From the Report of the Committee.

GRADES AND NATIVES.

In using the terms "thoroughbreds," "grades" and "natives," they can only be understood to express relative degrees of improvement, by breeding and rearing, upon stock which has been perpetuated at random. The term "native" is of course in this country an anomalous expression, since the nearest approach to native cattle on the American continent is the bison of our Western prairies. The idea which is expressed by the term could be more properly rendered by the word "acclimated," since it is by the peculiar influences of our climate that the distinguishing features of American cattle are produced.

The word "thoroughbred" indicates, as an analysis of it will show, an animal produced by a thorough course of breeding or attention on the part of mankind; and in using the term "grade" we indicate the different degrees or grades of approach to the maximum point of excellence.

An acclimation of over two hundred years has produced upon our island a kind of stock possessing numerous peculiar characteristics. As a general thing, the cattle of Nantucket have not been pampered by the tenderest care nor the richest pastures. They have been accustomed to roam over our widelyextended commons, which are never over-abundant with verdure, and where the exercise necessary to procure food would seem at least sufficient to insure a thorough digestion.

Generally speaking, the native cattle of Nantucket are of medium size, cleanly built, without much superfluous flesh, active, and of robust constitution, and able to subsist with a very reasonable amount of food and attention. Their milk is usually of fine flavor, and the butter produced from it is pronounced by connoisseurs to be equal to any in the United States.

Since the formation of the Nantucket Agricultural Society the attention of our farmers has been drawn to the improvement of their stock, principally by crossing it with Ayrshire and Alderney thoroughbreds; and the distinguishing features of these two great families can now be seen plainly stamped upon scores of Nantucket cattle.

We have good advantages in Nantucket for producing an improved grade of stock-advantages somewhat resembling those of the Channel Islands of England. The near proximity of the Gulf Stream to our shores causes our climate to approach nearer to that of Jersey, Alderney and Guernsey, than does the climate of any other part of New England; and in point of isolation, and freedom from trouble by any intermingling of foreign stock, our advantages are fully equal to theirs.

The republican spirit of our New England farmers will probably never allow that exclusive monopoly of cattle-raising which exists in the islands of Jersey and Alderney; but it is to be hoped that a regard for the general interest of all concerned will induce them to raise the common stock of Nantucket to the highest possible grade. It is for the interest of every farmer to have his stock represent the greatest market value; and if a cow that is one-half or three-quarters Alderney or Ayrshire will sell for one-half or one-third more than a native animal, it is evident that some advantage is to be gained by raising the stock to a higher degree of improvement.

JOSEPH M. FOLGER, Chairman.

HORSES.

BERKSHIRE.

From the Report of the Committee.

A stallion, for a stock horse, should possess qualifications of the highest order. He should be sound and without a blemish, of a good, vigorous constitution, resolute style of action, high spirits, and a good degree of nervous or vital energy which gives life to the whole. The great want of the whole country is better horses at more reasonable rates. Now there is nothing to prevent the production of such horses to any required extent; but it cannot be done without labor and money. That we have some specimens which cannot be surpassed, we do not deny; but these, generally, are accidental exceptions and not an established breed, and therefore cannot be reproduced. The great