BREEDING AS AN ART. 3 



and uniformity in the transmission of their most valu- 

 able qualities to their offspring. 



Beauty in the form and proportions of his animals 

 was always made to contribute to the development of 

 useful characters. Mr. BakewelPs success in the im- 

 provement of the animals he was breeding must be 

 attributed to the exercise of a combination of talents 

 that would have made him eminent in any profession 

 or pursuit. 



A correct and well-trained eye enabled him to 

 detect the slightest variations of form; and these, 

 from his knowledge of the animal organization, ob- 

 tained by long-continued and systematic observation, 

 he associated with the correlated qualities they rep- 

 resented. 



Relying upon his own good judgment, which was 

 not biased by non-essential conditions or fanciful the- 

 ories, he not only accepted all that was consistent in 

 the received rules of the art, but established new prin- 

 ciples of the greatest practical importance. < 



He seems to have been apt in tracing the relations 

 of cause and effect, and methodical and persevering 

 in the execution of his well-considered plans for im- 

 provement. 



With the spirit of a true artist, he endeavored to 

 mould the plastic forms of his animals to give expres- 

 sion to his ideal conception of the qualities that con- 

 stitute perfection. 



The method of Bakewell has been successfully 

 practised by other able men ; and we now have, as the 

 result of their labors, a variety of improved breeds of 

 remarkable excellence, each differing from the others 



