250 [Senate 



to live hard, and rapidly to acquire flesh. I have always believed, 

 and practice confirms it, that the most perfectly formed animals have 

 the best constitutions, and will endure more privations, and even dis- 

 ease, than those that are ill shaped, and when equally inured to the 

 climate they are destined to inhabit, will get fat much earlier, and on 

 less and inferior food. The one true standard or model of perfection 

 of form, (the component good points of which, when united, com- 

 prise one level mass of flesh ; or in other terms, the most human food 

 in the least animal frame,) applies to cattle, sheep and pigs respec- 

 tively. And that this form may be developed in succeeding genera- 

 tions, it is the most certain to choose from those that have possessed 

 them for years past. There may be a multitude of evils in the pre- 

 dictions of many ready to advise on the subject, but the proof that 

 they can advance in favor of their objections, will, on investigation, 

 be found inefficient. These opinions guided me in the selection of 

 my own cattle, and after a diligent search, I was fortunate in obtain- 

 ing some bred by the late John Price, Esq., Upton on Severn, Wor- 

 cestershire, a tribe of Herefords distinct from all others, and partak- 

 ing of the form, constitution, and capabilities to live hard, &c., pre- 

 viously recommended, (and so much to be desired,) in a far greater 

 proportion than any other cattle that have yet come under my obser- 

 vation. They have for nearly a century been bred in-and-in (and in 

 many instances from the closest affinities,) with positive improve- 

 ment, and I believe would possess health and manifest the same dis- 

 position to fatten and arrive at early maturity, in colder climates, and 

 on the most barren land upon which any cattle ever did or can sub- 

 sist. This valuable breed of animals are now in the possession of 

 only three or four individuals, in their pristine purity. A weighty 

 reason for the adoption of my method of perpetuating animals, is its 

 economy ; for when once a herd or flock is established, there is not 

 any expense incurred in the annual hire or purchase of males, which 

 greatly detracts from the profit of the produce of those herd or flock 

 masters, whose custom it is to infuse frequent strange blood into 

 their stock : this amalgamation greatly injures, if not the first, the 

 later descendants. 



The works of nature display ample lessons in favor of the princi- 

 ples that I advocate, which man is slow to learn and reluctant to 

 practice. He should remember that he is nature's apprentice, and 

 strictly adhere to his indentures. He will then be impressed with 

 the important truth, that beasts, birds and fishes (over whose procre- 

 ation he has no control,) breed from close affinities, without any de- 

 terioration in size, form, coat or color. The principal evil ascribed 

 to in-and-in breeding, is its tendency to reduce size and encourage 

 disease. Animals of a small size, of every breed, frequently possess 

 the most symmetrical forms, and conseqjiently are preferred for breed- 

 ing, and the issue is almost certain in the lapse of years, (as may natu- 

 rally be expected) to produce diminution in size, with improved for- 

 mation. 



That in-and-in breeding does not necessarily generate diseases, un- 

 less animals have hereditary predisposition to suffer from them, is suf- 



