232 MANAGEMENT OF FARM STOCK. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



MANAGEMENT OF FARM STOCK. 



816. The stock of the farm consists of horned cattle, 

 horses, sheep, swine and poultry. 



817. Horned cattle are kept chiefly for their milk, their 

 labor, and for the production of beef. They also consume 

 and thus make useful many products of the farm which 

 would otherwise be lost, and furnish manure for the 

 enrichment of the soil. 



818. They are divided into certain races, breeds or 

 families, distinguished by different qualities or character 

 istics which have been produced or developed by varieties 

 of climate and soil, and by the manner in which they have 

 been required to live by man. 



819. There are five distinct races or breeds in this 

 country, known as Ayrshires, Jerseys, Short-horns, Devons 

 and Herefords. Individuals of other breeds have been 

 imported from time to time, but their number has been so 

 small that they have had little effect on the stock of the 

 country. 



820. No one of these breeds unites, in a very high 

 degree, all desirable qualities. Some are best fitted for 

 giving milk, others for beef or labor. Cattle should 

 therefore be selected with regard to the specific object for 

 which they are wanted, and that object should be had in 

 view in their keeping. 



821. The Ayr. hires take their name from the county 

 of Ayr, in S-nihmd, where they originated seventy or 

 eighty years ago. They are kept chiefly for dairy 



