CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 23 



concerned than tlie wisdom or otherwise of getting what some of our 

 consuls call u fancy-stock crazed,' 7 and paying more for a single " blooded" 

 animal than a well-stocked moderate farm is usually worth, and as many 

 of these reports, principally those which treat of the fine and noted 

 breeds in the United Kingdom, are undoubtedly calculated to incite 

 the enthusiasm of American cattlemen, a paper from Consul Tanner, of 

 Lie"ge, Belgium, which is, in part, an argument, supported by valuable 

 statistics, against such enthusiasm, and intended to prove that our 

 farmers can, by selection and care, develop a race of American cattle 

 equal to any so-called "blooded stock," has been inserted as a prelude 

 to the general reports. Such facts as that our cattle are now the best 

 foreign cattle slaughtered for the British market, and the evidence 

 given before the Ontario agricultural commission by a loading cattle 

 exporter, that the Western cattle of the United States " are far superior 

 to Canadian grain-fed cattle, there being no comparison between them," 

 should be remembered in this connection. 



Without desiring to advocate or combat the views herein set forth, 

 feeling well assured that the cattle-breeders of the United States are 

 fully competent to read and digest the matter contained in these re- 

 ports, I cannot help feeling that many of the latter are calculated to 

 arouse a certain amount of enthusiasm where only the coolest calcula- 

 tion is called for. In this regard Consul Tanner's paper on " Cattle- 

 breeding in Europe and in the United States," with its mass of valuable 

 European opinion, methods of feeding, breeding for show and for sale, 

 principally to American cattlemen, will at least serve to moderate those 

 reports written, or incited, by breeders of "blooded stock," who, natur- 

 ally enough, write lovingly of their favorites. 



Given that full consideration and calm deliberation which American 

 cattle-breeders and dairy farmers are surely capable of giving to such 

 a congenial subject as cattle-breeding and dairy-farming, these reports, 

 together with the statistics attached thereto in a supplementary form, 

 contain, it is confidently believed, a mass of information such as has 

 never before been compiled and published in any country, and must 

 prove of great value to the cattlemen and dairy farmers of the United 

 States. 



I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 



T. F. BAYARD. 



Hon. JOHN G. CARLISLE, 



Speaker of tlie House of Representatives. 



