146 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



servant of a clear mind and strong will. The athletic exercise of 

 the youth or adult is a pleasurable occupation but it 34elds no profit 

 which can be recorded in a ledger account. 



How can we secure the phj'sical advantages of athletic exercise 

 for dairy stock ? Many breeders have already begun bj' breaking 

 bull calves to work on tread powers, and in the yoke. While I 

 would urge persistence in this course as the best means of main- 

 taining health, and improving the vigor of offspring, it is no less 

 important to the stockmen as a remedy for the mischief and the 

 serious accidents so often caused b}' bulls leading idle lives in pent 

 up boxes and stalls. How many deaths have been caused by 

 keeping bulls isolated in lonely stalls, a terror to visitors, and in 

 too many instances an object of suspicion to their attendants. 



What is the object of the breeder? Surel}- he has somethiug 

 beyond the desire of reproducing offspring as capable of earning 

 profit as the parents. Everj'' breeder has his own ideal. To most 

 men it is to get as man}- animals in the pedigree of high merit, a 

 praiseworthy object in itself, but certainl}' this alone does not cover 

 the requirements of the modern breedei. Line breeding and 

 famil}" bias have been too long persisted in b}' some men for the 

 sake of preserving a specific t^-pe of animal. The most successful 

 breeders the world has known are the men who possess the stock- 

 man's instinct. 



The true stockman is a child of nature. He knows what he wants 

 and sets out to secure it Often of rugged constitution himself, 

 possessing a good stomach, he enjoys his food ; he is large hearted, 

 full of animal spirits, quick to delineate good framing, fine propor- 

 tions, and symmetrical finish in his stock. Such men seldom err in 

 their mating of stock. 



One of the best object lessons in breeding may be had at little 

 cost by attending a combination auction sale of three or four hun- 

 dred head of animals Among this number every conceivable 

 type may be met with, — narrow chests, hollow backs, short 

 quarters, goat-like udders, slab sides and paper}' skins. If an 

 animal has a passable udder, and has come of good stock, defects 

 of structure and delicate constitutions are too often overlooked. 

 Without a good habitation, and fairly good nerve power it is hope- 

 less to expect that mere udder development and fine skins will be 

 perpetuated. 



If we have no perfect animal as yet from which to pattern our 

 operations, we at least have a great wealth of experience in the 



