ON REARING AND BREEDING ANIMALS. 27 



weak and languid ; the farmer on meeting 

 with his former feeder, complained that the ani- 

 mal was fast dedining, although he had plenty 

 of grass, hay, &c. the feeder told the farmer, 

 that grass and hay were not sufficient ; for besides 

 these, he had been fed on grain, and had also 

 been indulged with a pail of milk every day, 

 from the time of quitting his mother. This suf- 

 ficiently shows the folly of carrying things to 

 such extremes for general purposes -, but it does 

 not prove Bakewell, to have been erroneous in 

 his judgment, nor does it detract from the prin- 

 ciple of breeding in and in. 



It is the general practice of sheep farmers to 

 purchase their rams from professed breeders, at 

 enormous prices, and these, which are bred 

 under peculiar indulgencies, are always kept 

 away from the flock, with an extra allowance of 

 the best food, such as grain, pulse, &c., and 

 frequently, also, are allowed the shelter of a 

 house ; the consequence is, that their stocks are 

 always lean and long, and large in their bones, 

 and unequal to sustain the hardships of the 

 natural climate, lodging, and food, with health 

 and vigour; and hence it is obvious, that the 

 practice of crossing is not only attended with 

 much useless expence, but that it obstructs what 

 ought to be the object of every rational farmer 



