NEAT STOCK. 187 



cerning all these various genera and species, with their almost 

 infinite varieties, is not expected : for the subject has been clas- 

 sified, the labor divided, and given to different committees. 

 This committee is expected to treat specifically of neat stock, or 

 cattle. 



The animal kingdom is divided into orders, genera, and spe- 

 cies, the latter including varieties, races or breeds, which include 

 animals of the same species, being essentially alike, differing 

 only in minor characteristics, caused by climate, food, and care 

 in breeding. Species designates animals that are alike in char- 

 acter, possessing power of reproduction, however unlike in gen- 

 eral appearance these races may be. Compare the elegant, 

 thorough-bred short-horn, or Durham bull, with the most di- 

 minutive " scrub," and no one will fail to observe the striking 

 difference ; yet the general specific characteristics are the same. 

 The difference is the result of careful attention in breeding. 



The word breed means a progeny descended from the same 

 stock. It is an old maxim, founded on a well-known, fixed law 

 of nature, " that like begets like." A breed of cattle, there- 

 fore, includes a race or variety, as the Devon, or Hereford 

 breed. These have fixed qualities that are well-known and 

 understood by stock breeders — qualities that can be, with the 

 certainty of a well-known law of the animal economy, commu- 

 nicated to their progeny. This law is everywhere confirmed in 

 the history of domestic animals. The Merino sheep furnish a 

 striking illustration. So does the Arabian horse. "Native 

 cattle " cannot, according to this definition, be called a breed ; 

 for they are destitute of the marks of breeding, as here indi- 

 cated, which are agreed to by stock breeders. But, says the 

 objector, if admitted " that like begets like," is not this law as 

 true of natives as of well-bred cattle ? Undoubtedly. The 

 uncertainty lies in this : no one can divine whose likeness the 

 progeny will be, whether that of the bull or some one of his 

 " scrub " ancestry, with which his blood is mingled. 



In view, then, of the fact, that about three-fourths of the 

 farming capital is invested in stock, stock-feed and stock accom- 

 modations, the subject of stock-breeding and raising becomes, 

 at once, a matter for careful and intelligent consideration by 

 every farmer, who wishes to make tliis part of his business as 

 profitable as possible. This brings up the subject of breeds, or 



