DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



ALBANY AGRICULTURAL MEETINGS. 



At the sixth agricultural meeting in Albany, the subject for discus- 

 sion was the proper mode of improving the breed of domestic ani- 

 mals. Mr. Sanford Howard, associate editor of the Cultivator, 

 made, substantially, the following observations : 



Mr. H. said, although he thought the remarks which had been made 

 by the gentlemen who had before spoken, were, from their general 

 character, highly interesting, yet he should have been pleased if some- 

 thing had been said having a more direct bearing on the subject under 

 consideration. 



It seems to be admitted, by most persons, that domestic animals 

 have in some cases been improved by man, and the object, in the out- 

 set, is to ascertain how that improvement has been effected ; because, 

 " what man has done, man can do." What, then, has been the sys- 

 tem pursued by the improvers of animals 1 Some natural principle 

 has doubtless been acted on. In the history which has been given of 

 the management of Bakewell, Fowler, Colling, and others, we are 

 not informed that the constitutional qualities of their animals were 

 changed or improved, by keeping them on any peculiar kinds of food. 

 They, to be sure, had their animals well fed with wholesome food, 

 adapted to their age, but no particular mode of feeding was relied on 

 to effect a constitutional improvement. Nor was it supposed that 

 those men had a very thorough knowledge of the physiological prin- 

 ciples, which had just been spoken of. In saying this it was not in- 

 tended to undervalue science, but simply to state that with such light 

 only as is within the reach of every man, important improvements 

 have been made. If to the practical habits of observation, which 

 those celebrated stock-breeders possessed, had been added a thorough 

 knowledge of anatomy and animal physiology, the results of their la- 

 bors might have been still greater. But practical skill and discrimi- 

 nation, are of the first consequence, and with the men" who possess 

 these requisites, theoretical knowledge will be turned to the best ac- 

 count. 



An attempt will be made to state, briefly, what is believed to have 

 been i\i& foundation on which Bakewell, and other improvers of stock, 

 conducted, or continue to conduct their operations. 



The best domestic animals for any particular purpose, are seen to 

 possess certain natural or constitutional characteristics. 



It may be said to be a law of nature applicable to the animal and 



