36 THE JERSEY, ALDERNEY AND GUERNSEY COW. 



and of the improved races of sheep and swine, it is 

 hardly extravagant to ascribe the greater importance to 

 human intervention. 



" Of course it should be our object to improve on the 

 best results that have yet been attained by breeders in 

 Jersey, but we should be extremely careful how we set 

 about it. The papers quoted at the commencement of 

 this essay convey, probably, as good an idea as can be 

 obtained, without a personal visit, of the social, geologi- 

 cal, agricultural and climatic circumstances under which 

 the development of the breed has taken place. Within 

 certain wide limits we should be careful how we deviate 

 from the lines of influence that these circumstances have 

 marked. 



" It is very commonly asserted that, under the warmer 

 sun, on the broader pastures, and with the more lavish 

 feeding that are incident to our own operations, the breed 

 has improved since its introduction into this country ; 

 also that the progeny of imported animals are usually 

 superior to their progenitors. It seems to me that this 

 criticism is not unquestionably a sound one. There is 

 no doubt that, under ordinary American treatment, the 

 animals do increase in size, in richness of appearance, 

 and in the quantity of their yield of milk ; it is, how- 

 ever, very doubtful whether this general enlargement is 

 a real advantage. The most desirable "qualities of the 

 Jersey are quite the opposite of the most desirable 

 qualities of the Short-horn or the Ayrshire ; and there 

 seems no reason to suppose that we shall really im- 



