292 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



are of great value; but the experience of a single year I consider 

 to be valueless. The experiment must be repeated time and again ; 

 and finally, notwithstanding the difficulties, I believe a result 

 would be obtained which, to a certain extent, might be considered 

 as a general law. The proposition which has been made in refer- 

 ence to having the different agricultural colleges conduct the 

 same experiments, I consider to be in the highest degree valuable; 

 because the more these experiments are tried, the more varying 

 the conditions, and taking them year alter year, the more sure 

 would be the results. So, as I look upon the matter, I believe the 

 value of experiments in this country has just commenced, or rather 

 the experiments that would prove of value are just commencing, 

 and the step we are about to take I consider to be of the utmost 

 value in this direction. 



Dr. Detmkrs. There is one point I consider to be of great im- 

 portance, and that is, the different agricultural colleges uniting in 

 their efforts to demonstrate and to find out what influences the 

 soil and climate in different localities have upon the development 

 of our different domestic animals, and even upon the different 

 breeds of domestic animals. It is well known that in one part of 

 the country, fine handsome horses are produced, but the cattle in 

 that locality amount to but little. In another locality they raise 

 excellent cattle, but the horses are inferior. In another, they 

 raise fine she,ep, and in another sheep do not succeed at all. We 

 may know the cause, but not thoroughly enough ; and this would 

 be a very good object for the united efforts of these agricultural 

 colleges. For instance, 'if you ask a dozen different men what is 

 the best breed of cattle, you will receive as many different answers. 

 Some will prefer one kind and some another; one prefers the Devon, 

 another the Ayrshire, and so on ; all are liked, more or less. It 

 would be of great importance to explain, not only to the agricultural 

 student, what are these different conditions and varieties, but to 

 the agricultural public, what makes one breed thrive so much 

 better in one locality than in another. We know it is almost 

 impossible to raise sheep successfully in low, wet ground. We 

 know that horses thrive better in a high and dry country than in a 

 low and wet one, although they may get a great deal more weight 

 in the latter. But there are many points which might be explained 

 by proper and rational experiment. 



A good deal has been said about feeding cattle ; and I want to 

 mention one simple point, established by empiricism. It has been 



