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tlonable to the ejc, but that the color is indicative of a delicate con- 

 stitution. White legs should also be avoided, particularly the forward 

 legs, as terminating in A\hite hoofs, which are always weaker and 

 more liable to disease, than black ones. And let me here suggest, 

 that, in the rearing of foals it is of the utmost importance to feed 

 them -well, and shelter them, particularly during the first autumn 

 and winter. If they are half starved and checked in growth, at 

 this period, they seldom attain the same amount of bone and sinew 

 that proper attention, during the first year, in a great measure 

 secures. 



Some general remarks I will now make in regard to the cattle of 

 this country. Our cattle and sheep were, originally, brought over 

 from England, by our forefathers, the pilgrims. And our cattle 

 were, most of them, of the Devonshire breed, the part of England 

 from -whence the pilgrims came. But, in the course of time, they 

 have been mingled •with other races ; or have run out, or nearly so. 



The foundation of all improvements in stock, and its successful 

 management is, as I have before said, the rule, that " like pro- 

 duces like." This is the great law in every portion of animated 

 nature. If, occasionally, the intellectual or imaginative power 

 may control the organic, that organic principle is in full activity, 

 and will surely be revived in the generations to come. This law, of 

 like producing like, gave birth to a most valuable breed of sheep ; 

 the Bakewell breed. And to the short horns, among cattle, whose 

 superiority is every where acknowledged and established, to this 

 day can be traced, in the best of English cattle, the lineaments of 

 their ancestor, ^^ Favorite.''^ 



Suppose a farmer has a good stock of cattle, with only some de- 

 fect among them. He remembers the rule cited above ; and he 

 looks for a sire which has the excellence he wishes to engraft upon 

 his own stock. Now, he often fails to obtain an improvement. For 

 this new sire has his own defects ; and although the object of getting 

 rid of a general defect in the farmer's stock may have been success- 

 ful, yet other defects appear, derived from this new sire. Now, there 

 is but one way, as with horses, to prevent this transmission of imper. 

 fections. And that is, by having both dam and sire selected, as 

 nearly as possible, without fault. Both must be as nearly perfect 

 as possible, and after a few generations, an attention to this rule 

 will show a stock of superior qualities. 



