403 
Morrow having declined further service in that capacity. Among the 
resolutions passed was one presented by Professor Riley, the entomol- 
ogist, favoring the organization of a commission for investigation of the 
grasshopper plague. 
At the request of the Commissioner of Agriculture, the address of 
Mr. Allen has been forwarded for publicaticn. It is entitled 
AMERICAN LIVE STOCK. 
The subject on which your executive committee has invited me to address you, 
viz, ‘ Our live stock interests, in their history, condition, and prospects,” is far too 
broad in its scope to be compressed within the limits of an address on an occasion like 
the present. Indeed, it canonly be treated in a manner suggestive, rather than practi- 
cal, or even historical. 
The history of the live stock of the United States, from the first settlement of our 
Atlantic seaboard to its present wonderful expansion to the shores of the Pacific, would 
be almost a history of the people themselves, so close has been the association of their 
domestic animals with the fortunes of the agricultural population. The limits of this 
paper will only allow me to touch on the introduction of our domestic animals, and 
follow them briefly for about two hundred and fifty years of progress into their present 
condition and prospects for the future. 
It is a very broad subject—the entire category of our farm-stock—embracing the 
nobility of the horse; the utility of the ass, and the hybrid offspring of both, the mule; 
the branches of the bovine race: the cow for milk, the ox for labor, and the bullock for 
beef; the sheep for its flesh and wool; the swine for flesh, lard, and oil; not omitting 
poultry, and even the “ little busy bee,” which contributes to our household comforts 
_ and luxuries. You will therefore excuse the brevity of my remarks in each depart- 
ment, as any questions suggested may more fully be studied by reference to the many 
able works devoted to different branches of this interest. 
First in order may be mentioned 
THE HORSE. 
. 
His domestic history is coeval with that of mankind. He has contributed in no small 
degree to man’s civilization. The most ancient of human annals, both sacred and pro- 
fane, have eulogized him. His prowess has been extolled in histories of war; in 
domestic servitude his indispensable labors have been gratefully acknowledged; in 
luxury he is an indispensable agent, and altogether the noblest animal ever under 
human control. 
The first introduction of the horse to the vast territory now comprising the United 
States of America was in all probability made by the Spaniards on the coast of Florida, 
some years previous to the settlement of the early English and other European colo- 
nists on our Atlantic shores. History gives us little or no account of the breeds and 
characters of those early importations. The Florida Spaniards came out chiefly as gold- 
hunters, and what horses they brought with them were in all probability of the Anda- 
lusian or ordinary Spanish race, which were for many centuries bred by the Moors in 
Spain, and subsequently by their Castilian conquerors. Those horses were small in 
size, good in draught and under the saddle, hardy in constitution, and capable of under- 
going great fatigue with negligent treatment ; in fact, the most useful class of animals 
for them and their successors. Without much, if any, improvement, they now plenti- 
fully inhabit Texas, California, New Mexico, and Mexico proper. They do not really 
belong to the class “American horse,” as we now understand that classification. 
The settlers on our Atlantic coast, beginning about the year 1616, brought out the 
horses of their own native countries; Holland, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Den- 
mark, France, and Germany being thus laid under contribution. Great variety of 
character was thus introduced, and as their importers were men of narrow means, the 
animals were probably not of the choicest kinds, either in blood or quality, but very 
useful in the rude agriculture of the time. As these horses shared the hardships and 
privations of their owners, no marked improvement could be effected until the intro- 
duction of superior animals by later immigrants. 
As the colonies grew in population and strength, attracting increased attention from 
the English government, under which they were all ultimately combined, immigrants 
of wealth, official dignitaries, and army officers brought out many valuable horses, 
some few accounts of which date back to the year 1700. Among them were choice 
specimens of the draught variety, as well as saddle-horses ; but the roadster, as we now 
know him, was then undeveloped, from the lack of good roads and light vehicles. 
Within a few years, however, after 1700, several fine blood horses of both sexes were 
