292 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



which is of value and service to guide us in our treatment of 

 them . Nobody expects to treat a pig as he treats a horse ; 

 and the difference in our management of two such animals is 

 determined by what we know of their structure, by what we 

 know of the functions or the play of their characteristic organs ; 

 but there is one topic about which the farmer would like to 

 know more, and that is in reference to breeding ; and espe- 

 cially such points in the process of breeding as would enable 

 him to do certain things which would add greatly to the 

 value of our stock. If it were known how to raise male 

 animals in places where it is desirable to have them in larger 

 numbers, if it were known how to raise heifers in those 

 regions where dairy farming is largely carried on, imagine 

 what an advantage it would be to be able to determine before- 

 hand the sex of the animals to be bred. Unfortunately, we 

 do not know enough to-day to guide us in that direction, and 

 yet I have not the remotest doubt that the time is coming 

 when we shall be able to bring forth what we want, as we 

 have been able to produce certain peculiar modifications of 

 the various kinds of domesticated animals to suit our pur- 

 poses, — when we want beef rather than milk, when we want 

 strength rather than delicacy of structure. Now, how shall 

 we get at it? We have not the information. You may con- 

 sult the men of science, the most learned men of the day in 

 every part of the world, and they will say, "Upon these 

 topics we have no satisfactory knowledge whatsoever." It is 

 to be reached only by studying the various functions con- 

 nected with the process of breeding, by studying especially 

 the earlier stages of the growth of animals with which we 

 are familiar, and studying them with reference to that point. 

 Upon that topic I will make a few statements concerning the 

 facts with which I am familiar. 



It is not Ions; since all animals were divided into two classes 

 with reference to their breeding. Some were called ovipa- 

 rous — that is, egg-laying animals, which multiply by laying 

 eggs, out of which a young animal is eventually evolved; 

 the others were called viviparous, — such as bring forth liv- 

 ing young, after a more or less protracted gestation ; and 

 these two classes of animals were supposed to be widely dif- 

 ferent one from another, both in structure and in mode of 



