Examination of the Herd of William Calder, Esq., Harrisburg.
The commission visited one of the farms of William Calder, near Harrisburg. This gentleman has seven farms, containing nine hundred acres, and keeps a variety of stock. On the farm visited, near the reservoir, the commission examined eight head of grade stock, in very good order, on good September pasturage. The dairyman, a very intelligent man, had no record of the exact quantity and quality of the stock, but, as he milked them himself, a knowledge of their general qualities; and upon hearing the decision of the commission upon each cow, assented to the character given of all of them, except on two points: on one as to yield, and on another as to time. It was pleasing to notice the surprise and delight expressed by him at the exhibition, of entire strangers to the herd, of such accurate knowledge of them as the system showed it could give. And he determined to acquire it forthwith.
The commission saw a very fine black grade cow, with the calf by her side a perfect specimen of the Belted stock, though sired by a thorough-bred Jersey bull—to be accounted for only by the fact that the cow had been served by a Belted bull the third time before this one.