Fifty years ago there was dawning upon the world the first ray of a great
discovery. A star was rising in the agricultural world, which was about
to shed new light, and like many other valuable discoveries, it was made
by one among the lowly, and partly by chance. The author of this new
discovery has said, “Error flies with the rapidity of lightning, all
obstacles vanish before it. Truth, on the contrary, is admitted coldly,
often even with doubt, suspicion, and distrust.” It is owing partly to
this, partly to the fact that this new light was given to the world when
the mind of farmers were not ready to _receive_ new ideas of progress as
they now seek them, and much to the fact that it was the invention of a
foreigner described in a foreign tongue. True a translation of it was
made through the medium of an American monthly magazine of agriculture;
but it was one of limited circulation. At that time the number of
periodicals devoted to that interest was few, and such new and important
questions were not thoroughly discussed and the knowledge of them placed
in every farm-house in the land, as it is at the present day. Shortly
after the appearance of M. Guenon’s treatise in the magazine, it was
reprinted in book form, and received the large circulation of sixty-five
thousand copies, between that time and now, and the book most probably
sells better to-day than it did then. By many who procured that book the
subject was studied, and advantage taken of its revelations, being stored
away in the reader’s mind for actual practice. By the great majority it
was read, but not studied; driven from it by the apparent complications
of the system and the two hundred sub-divisions of it; by many, perhaps,
it was attempted to be put into practice, but without their having
given the subject that close investigation which was needed to prove
the system correct. It was mostly by this class of persons, because the
system was not found to be infallible, that it was denounced and given
up, even by men otherwise intelligent; as if anything human could be
infallible. Thus it is that by the ignorant its revelations were received
with incredulity, and by many of the intelligent with doubt; but to the
earnest seekers after practical information, it has unfolded a mine of
wealth, and they have proved the system by continuous experience, and
found it to be the most reliable mode of judging of the value of every
member of the bovine species.
It was a happy thought that suggested itself to the Pennsylvania State
Board of Agriculture, to have the system tested by uninterested parties.
But extremely difficult, it was, to obtain persons to make the test.
For those to whom application was made declined it on various grounds,
principally because, as Guenon himself has stated in his latest edition,
many pretended savans would endeavor to throw ridicule upon it; many
others would identify the gentlemen making the tests with it, as if it
was their system that they were testing; while not a few still more
narrow-minded, would think they were trying to humbug them. Thus it was
difficult to fill the places, which offered neither honor nor profit.
It will be seen, by these extracts, that the Governor appointed three
experts to test the system. This they did in the summer of 1878,
examining two hundred cows, jotting down their opinion of the yield,
quality, and time of each of them, and afterwards printing them alongside
of the reports of their owners, so that the public could form their own
estimate of the results of the examinations of the commission. They are
here reprinted, to show how it was carried out. Particular attention is
called to the examinations _of the blanketed cows_ in Thomas Gawthrop’s
herd.
On M. Guenon and his System.
It is proper we should inquire into M. Guenon, and the origin and
development of his system.
Monsieur François Guenon, a husbandman of Libourne, in France, was the
son of a gardener, and followed for sometime his ancestor’s trade.
He seems to have had a mind above those in his position. As we look
at his portrait, he appears to have a clear eye, a cool head, great
determination, firmness of character, a well-balanced mind, and with
it all, a vigor of constitution which buoys him up, and enables him to
over-ride obstacles. He says himself, he was of an observant turn of
mind, fond of comparing things, and deducing consequences from what he
learned by observation and comparison, particularly from the Book of
Nature. Young, ardent and healthy, with the vivacity of his race, he felt
himself destined for better things than those a gardener’s life would
insure him. What wonder then that his eye was keen to see, his mind to
grasp and analyze any new turn of thought that chance might throw in his
way.
Like most self-made men, who have made their mark in life’s pilgrimage,
he set himself to work to improve himself—to acquire that which would
expand his mind, and fit it to receive any new inspiration, and be
able to develop it. He studied the works of the best writers on botany
and agriculture; and applied his knowledge by following up all the
ramifications of the vegetable kingdom, and studied their external signs,
that distinguish the different sorts, and ascertained their qualities and
productiveness.
In France, they have few fences, and the cattle of a neighborhood are
driven to the grazing ground, and herded together, and, in turn, members
of each or several families, (the younger portion,) are put to watch that
the cattle do not stray out of bounds. Such companionship with their
stock makes the owners fond of them, and they are treated as pets, and
become very docile. When young Guenon was about fourteen years of age, he
would drive their cow to graze. His cow he was very fond of, and could
identify her among any number. She was a good milker.
The Escutcheon or Mirror.
In his authorized account of the discovery and perfection of his system,
Guenon uses the following language: “When fourteen years of age, I used,
according to country custom, to drive our only cow to the grazing ground.
I was very fond of her, and could have identified her among ever so
many. One day as I was whiling away the time in cleaning and scratching
my old companion, I noticed that a sort of bran or dandruff detached
itself in considerable quantities from certain spots on her hind parts,
formed by the meeting of the hair as it grew in opposite directions,
which spots I have since called _ears_, from the resemblance they often
bear to the bearded ears or heads of wheat or rye. This first attracted
my attention, and I recollected having heard my grandfather say that it
was probable that there were external marks on cows whereby their good
qualities or their defects might be known—just as we judge of the vital
force of a plant and its qualities by means of its leaves and lines in
its skin. Reflecting on the subject, I arrived at the conclusion that
if in the vegetable kingdom there exists external signs, whereby the
good and the bad qualities of a plant can be positively known, there
ought to exist in the animal, or its kingdom, also, marks whereby we may
judge, by inspecting an animal, of its qualities, good and bad, and I
thought I had discovered one of these signs. I sought the bearded ears
or quirls, and scratched those spots in quest of dandruff, the abundance
or scarcity of this being what first engaged my attention. Every new cow
was compared with my own as a standard, and her superiority, equality, or
inferiority determined in my own mind. In the course of the comparisons
thus instituted by me, with reference to the dandruff alone, which was
at first the only thing that governed me, I had occasion to remark that
great diversities existed among cows in respect to the shape of the
bearded ears (quirls) which produced the dandruff. This suggested a
new train of reflection and observation, which resulted in my becoming
convinced that these _shapes_ were the signs by which to distinguish
cows, and to know the good and bad qualities of every individual among
them.”
[Illustration: Imported Jersey Cow BLACK BESS.]
[Illustration: Imported Jersey Cow TIBERIA.