1902.] LESSONS FROM THE PAN-AMERICAN. 211 



proper for me to take a little time to speak to you about it. 

 It was unfortunate that this great enterprise was diverted from 

 its main purpose and was made a test between the breeds. 

 It was a battle of breeds — a thing it never was designed to 

 be by the original promoters. The original plan was to make 

 it simply a great model dairy, a gathering together of fine 

 specimens of the leading breeds of dairy cattle and keeping 

 them under model conditions of stabling, care, and feeding. 

 When these animals were brought together the repre- 

 sentatives of the different breeds were anxious that their par- 

 ticular breed should make as good a showing as possible 

 against other breeds, and the outcome was an eflfort through- 

 out the test to see which breed would excel. Whoever makes 

 a careful study of the results of this test is sure to be disap- 

 pointed if he considers the leading lesson to be which breed 

 gave the best results. First, because there were only five 

 cows representing each breed, and so small a number cannot 

 properly represent, any one of our large and important breeds 

 of dairy animals. Secondly, the conditions under which the 

 animals were kept were not such as to cause them to do their 

 best. You may say that that doesn't necessarily affect a com- 

 parison between the breeds. Possibly that is true, but the 

 conditions were not such as to affect each breed alike. For 

 instance, some of the breeds of cattle are naturally nervous 

 and excitable in temperament, and, being shut up as they 

 were for a period of six months, scarcely being let out at all 

 except as they might get a little opportunity at night, they 

 could not do their best. Thirdly, it should be remembered 

 that for at least seven or eight hours of the day large crowds 

 were trooping through those stables. Most of our cows are 

 not accustomed to being disturbed in that manner, and those 

 breeds which have a naturally nervous and excitable tempera- 

 ment would be most seriously affected by this condition. In 

 other words, the different breeds would not be affected alike 

 by these unnatural surroundings. The fourth point is that 

 two of the breeds of cattle did not thoroughly represent our 

 American breeds. The Ayrshires and Jerseys came entirely 

 from Canada, and most anyone will admit that a fairer and 

 better representation of these two breeds could have been 

 obtained if the breeds were selected from the United States 

 as well as from Canada. For these reasons I think the test 

 could not be considered a fair one between the breeds. 



