372 now TO make the farm pay. 



the manner adopted by the early founders of the improved 

 breeds in England. 



This mode of improvement is simple enough when applied 

 to anv of the long established breeds. Indeed it is the only 

 mode which preserves the parity of blood in such cases ; but to 

 do it successfully with our common cattle would require great 

 experience, a quick eye for stock, a mind free from prejudice, 

 and a patience, and perseverance quite indefatigable. It would 

 be necessary to pay great attention to the calves thus produced, 

 to furnish them at all times, during their early growth, with an 

 abundant supply of nutritious food, and to regulate it carefully 

 according to their growth. And when it is considered that this 

 mode would require a long series of 3^ears to arrive at any fixed 

 and satisfactory results, owing to the fact that our " native" 

 cattle, made up as they are of so infinite a variety of incongru- 

 ous elements, do not produce their like, that the defects of an 

 ill-bred ancestry will be continually " cropping out" for several 

 generations, constantly thwarting the expectations of the ex- 

 perimenter, it is not surprising that so few efforts of the kind 

 have been made, or that those that have been made have 

 attracted so little public attention. To be sure the objecti(m 

 of time, and expense, and repeated disappointment should have 

 little weight, if there were no more sure and speedy method of 

 accomplishing the object. 



The second method is more feasible, and it is the one that 

 has generally been adopted, and constitutes the basis of en- 

 lightened and systematic efforts to improve our stock at the 

 present day. It is to select animals from races or breeds 

 already improved and brought to a high degree of perfection, 

 and to use them in obtaining crosses or grades with our 

 •native" cattle. A good selection of pure bred males, from 

 breeds distinguished for their dairy qualities, and the use of 



