THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



PART III (Continued). 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



CATTLE. 



THE term cattle, in its primary and broadest signification, includes not only horned 

 animals, but the horse, the ass, and nearly all those which have been domesticated. 

 In a more specific and common acceptation, it is applied to the various races of 

 domesticated animals which belong to the genus Bos, and is synonymous with oxen. Cattle 

 seem to have been among the first animals domesticated by man in the early period of the 

 world s history, as also the most valuable and necessary to his highest welfare in all ages 

 and stages of civilization since that time. In ancient times an individual s possessions were 

 determined by his herds, or rather by the number of his cattle, these being employed as a 

 medium of exchange between different tribes and nations, a practice still common among 

 many of the African tribes. 



Naturalists have separated oxen into two classes or groups, the zebus or humped-cattle 

 (Bos indicus), such as those of India and Africa, and the common widely distributed race 

 with straight backs (Bos taurus). The original wild type from which the various breeds of 

 domestic cattle are descended is not known. The principal and most valuable breeds in the 

 United States have been derived from Great Britain, and other portions of northwestern 

 Europe, especially England, where they have long been bred with such care that they have 

 attained a degree of perfection not found in any other portion of the globe. The old native 

 stock of this country are a mixture of various types, and cannot be classified as belonging to 

 any particular breed. Great improvement has been effected, however, during the last quarter 

 of a century, and even for a period considerably anterior to this, by importing the best pure- 

 blooded animals of different breeds, and breeding therefrom both pure-blooded animals and 

 grades. By this means choice, pure-blooded stock has become more common, and the native 

 or mixed stock of the country has been greatly improved in many sections, while the great 

 interest that is at present manifested in this important branch of agriculture augurs well for 

 the future in this respect. The vast herds of cattle that roam over the extensive pampas of 

 South America, Mexico, and other portions of the continent, are similar in the main to the 

 domestic types to which they owe their origin ; and since it is a law of nature for both plants 

 and animals to revert to their original types when not interfered with by man, the conclusion 

 to be derived is that these animals do not in their general characteristics essentially differ 

 from the original source of our present breeds of cattle. 



History of American Cattle. (See Native Cattle.) 



