2 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Breeds and their Characteristics. It is estimated that there are in Europe, at the 

 present time, at least fifteen distinct British breeds, while the number of Continental breeds 

 is considerably larger, all of which, according to Nilsson and Rutimeyer, who have given par 

 ticular attention to the subject, seem to have been derived from three distinct species or races. 

 It is not our purpose, however, to enter into a special description of these different breeds, as it 

 would be neither advantageous nor practicable, being beyond the limits of this work ; but we 

 shall rather devote the space allotted to this department to the description and general man 

 agement of those popular breeds which in Europe and America are noted for excellence in 

 beef and milk production, or dairy use. With cattle, as with other animals, and also plants, 

 climate, cultivation, nature of the elements of food that constitute the sustenance and perpetu 

 ate their growth, all have much influence in determining their form, size, and general char 

 acter. While pure-bred animals have marked characteristics that distinguish them under 

 all circumstances from other breeds, still the qualities that characterize them from others may 

 be modified to a certain extent by a variety of circumstances, such as a change of climate, 

 quality and amount of food, and the general management and care which they receive, par 

 ticularly when young. There is also a constant natural tendency, as has been previously stated, 

 to revert to the original wild state or condition, and this is only prevented by the careful 

 management and that judicious treatment, which shall have a tendency to develop and 

 increase the valuable qualities of the animal. When such a course is pursued through sev 

 eral generations of the same family, or race of animals, the qualities which it has a tendency 

 to develop become after a time fixed to a greater or less degree, and are capable of being 

 transmitted to the extent that they are peculiar to the race, and thus the permanent char 

 acteristics of the breed are established. We therefore have breeds suited to the special pro 

 duction of the largest amount of beef with the least offal or waste; those noted for their 

 production of milk and cheese, others for butter, and others still whose chief excellence seems 

 to be in their use for labor as working oxen. 



Thus we have the heavy beef breeds 01 early maturity in the Short-Horns and Here- 

 fords; the breeds noted as being producers of large quantities of milk peculiarly rich in 

 casein, as the Ayrshires and Dutch or Hollanders; and those especially noted for butter pro. 

 duction in the Jerseys, Guernseys, etc. ; while the Devons have long been prized for their 

 beauty, activity, and general utility as working oxen, besides possessing valuable qualities as 

 beef and milk producers. While each breed has certain marked characteristics that distin- 

 tinguishes it from every other, still individuals of the same breed will be found to differ very 

 materially, some possessing the desirable characteristics in a much greater degree than others; 

 therefore, in breeding, those animals should be selected that most fully represent the qualities 

 that are desirable to be transmitted. 



While some breeds possess both beef and dairy qualities in a good degree, it will fre 

 quently be found that the breeds most profitable for beef production are, as a general rule, not 

 profitable for the dairy, the latter qualities having been sacrificed to the production of beef, 

 as is instanced in the Short-Horns, which were formerly very good milk yielders, but have 

 deteriorated in this respect in the improvement of their beef qualities. The breed most 

 profitable for the cheese dairy may not be the most profitable for the creamery or butter 

 dairy, while the one that yields the largest quantity of milk may not be the most profitable 

 for either, since the quality of the milk is of the first importance in determining its use for a 

 specific purpose, while the breeds that would be most profitable for either of the above- 

 mentioned purposes might prove very unprofitable for beef production. It would, therefore, 

 be impossible to answer the question so frequently asked, as to which breeds are the best ? since 

 in selecting any breed the farmer must take into consideration the object to which it is to be 

 devoted, the adaptation to locality, and other circumstances. 



It may frequently be found best, as might be the case with the general farmer, to secure 



