20 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



crooked; cows with beavy briskets or meaty sboulders^ coarse 

 ears and narrow tbigbs, wbich were good producers? Yes; surely 

 we bave, but wbetber tbey were tbe exceptions to the rule or not» 

 tbe day has come when tbe currents must be controlled, in all our 

 animals, to a larger degree than ever before, and to do this there 

 must be a greater harmony of parts and a more perfect adjust- 

 ment. Like the more intricate machinery necessary for the skilled 

 workmen successfully to compete in the markets, that through 

 reduced friction there may be a greater ratio of speed or, by more 

 equal bearings, less false spots in the fabric, so in the profitable 

 production of stock, or any of the farm products, there is de- 

 manded a better knowledge of the relation each part bears to 

 every other, in order that the per cent, of waste, either in time, 

 food or labor, may be reduced to the minimum and the quality of 

 the output made most favorable for the success of the grower or 

 manufacturer. From beginning to end the thought of business 

 must be engrafted on every step. Admitting that there are prob- 

 lems in the animal economy not yet solved, and surely not to be 

 controlled, may we not with justice claim that the measure of our 

 ignorance is largely in proportion to the measure of our want of 

 appreciation of the underlying principles at the foundation of this 

 paper. I would, if possible, make imperative the necessity for 

 this study of farm products by a scale of points and the use of 

 the score card, for the simple reason that it lies at the root of 

 successful farm husbandry, and the best system to be used in the 

 awarding of premiums at any agricultural fair is the best for the 

 individual to use in the more detailed study of animals and crops 

 at home. The w^eaknesses of the system will disappear as one 

 gets into sympathy and appreciation with the foundation on 

 which it rests. It makes men more critical, more observant, more 

 attentive to seemingly trivial things, and less likely to be car- 

 ried away by some fancy point, made prominent, but having only 

 a superficial bearing. There is danger that single parts will be 

 magnified until their relation is lost. Thus one will be swept 

 away by the switch of the Jersey, the knee action of the horse, 

 the number of spikes on the comb of the Leghorn, or the beautiful 



