DOMESTICATION OF THE BUFFALO. 



781 



centuries much more active than that on American soil. In 

 eleven years Mr. Bedson's herd increased from five to ninety- 

 seven, fourteen of the number having been disposed of before the 

 sale to Mr. Jones. Of the eighty-three which he bought, there 

 are eight adult crosses, or grades as they are called, and seventeen 

 calves of 1888, pure and grade. It is Mr. Jones's intention thor- 



FiG. 3.— Half-Blood BnFFALOES. Cross between Buffalo Bull and Domestic Cow. 



oughly to test various strains with a view to ascertain which are 

 best adapted for grazing herds on the plains of the Northwest. 

 In producing a robe he has already attained what he calls a 

 " seal-skin buffalo," from crossing with black cattle. ' 



At Silver Heights, five miles from Winnipeg, Sir Donald Smith 

 has a small herd of buffalo-crosses presenting unique points in 

 beauty and docility. Elsewhere in Manitoba, in Alberta Terri- 

 tory, and in Minnesota, it is proposed to parallel Mr. Jones's enter- 

 prise of Garden City. 



It has been suggested as an additional advantage of technical education that 

 it will afford room for the cultivation of what may be called man's instinctive in- 

 telligence, for which hardly any provision is made in the present systems. " While 

 the rational faculties and purely physical capabilities are elaborately cared for, 

 practically nothing is done, save in the most casual and hap-hazard way, for improv- 

 ing the faculties which lie upon the border-land of instinct and reason," for the 

 development of such powers, for example, as the exquisite adjustment and co-ordi- 

 nation that give the cricketer's skill in catching a passing ball, or the violinist's in 

 eliciting a succession of enrapturing harmonies from his instrument. Genius can 

 not be manufactured or conferred, but the average of the instinctive intelligence 

 and facility might be greatly raised by well-directed training. 



