SECRETARY'S REPORT. 117 



which utility is oftenest combined. Then carefully viewing- his 

 stock he will consider where they approach to, and how far they 

 wander from, this utility of form ; and he will be anxious to pre- 

 serve or to Increase the one and to supply the deficiency of the 

 other. He will endeavor to select from his own stock those animals 

 that excel in the most valuable points, and particularly those which 

 possess the greatest number of these points, and he will unhesita- 

 tingly condemn every beast that manifests deficiency in any one 

 important point. He will not, however, too long confine himself 

 to his own stock, unless it be a very numerous one. The breeding 

 from close affinities has many advantages to a certain extent. It 

 was the source whence sprung the cattle and sheep of Bakewell 

 and the superior cattle of Colling ; and to it must also be traced the 

 speedy degeneracy, the absolute disappearance of the New Leices- 

 ter cattle, and, in the hands of many agriculturists, the impairment 

 of constitution and decreased value of the New" Leicester sheep 

 and of the Short-horns. He will therefore seek some change in his 

 stock every second or third year, and that change is most conveni- 

 ently efiected by introducing a new bull. This bull should be of 

 the same breed, and pure, coming from a similar pasturage and 

 climate, but possessing no relationship — or, at most, a very distant 

 one— to the stock to which he is introduced. He should bring 

 with him every good point which the breeder has labored to pro- 

 duce in his stock, and if j^ossible, some improvement, and especially 

 in the points where the old stock may have been somewhat defi- 

 cient, and most certainly he should have no manifest defect of form ; 

 and that most essential of all qualifications, a hardy constitution, 

 should not be wanting. 



There is one circumstance, however, which the breeder occasion- 

 ally forgets, but which is of as much importance to the permanent 

 value of his stock as any careful selection of animals can be — and 

 that is, good keeping. It has been well said that ' all good stock 

 must be both bred with attention and well fed. It is necessary 

 that these two essentials in this species of improvement should 

 always accompany each other ; for without good resources of keep- 

 ing, it would be vain to attempt supporting a valuable stock.' This 

 is true with regard to the original stock. It is yet more evident 

 when animals are absurdly brought from a better to a poorer soil. 

 The original stock will deteriorate if neglected and half-starved, 

 and the improved breed will lose ground even more rapidly, and to 

 a far greater extent." 



