THE BREEDING OF CATTIjE. 645 



farmer possesses as a matter of course. Those who propose to go exclu- 

 sively and scientifically into the business of stock-breeding, must not only 

 pass through a careful course of reading in the best authorities on the 

 subject, but must also have a thorough practical training. The impor- 

 tant thing of all, however, is to possess the peculiar talent to make a 

 breeder — that is, a critical eye for form, symmetry, and the proportion 

 of the several parts of an animal, each to the others. 



IV. Compare Results. 

 A careful comparison of the results obtained by others and by one's self, 

 is among the best means of training for all. The animal that will make the 

 most beef at three years old, and the cow that will give the most milk, and 

 the richest in butter or cheese during the season, on the least relative quan- 

 tity of food, are the best. These things can only be learned through 

 personal observation and from the statements of those whose word you 

 can trust. 



V. The Assimilation of Pood. 



It is an idea with many people that an animal, to be valuable, must be 

 a small eater. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is merely a 

 question of proper assimilation of the food eaten — an animal of perfect 

 digestive and assimilative organs being al)le to extract far more nutri- 

 ment from a given quantity of food than one in which these organs per- 

 form their functions but imperfectly. In this respect the improved 

 breeds of stock of any family stand pre-eminent. Their digestive and 

 assimilative organs are of the best and they give greater returns for the 

 food eaten than illy-bred animals. 



The lungs and blood vessels of the ox are not required to l)e so capa- 

 cious, according to the weight of the animal, as those of the blood-horse ; 

 for they are not required to do fast work. The improved breeds of 

 other farm stock are not required to take more exercise than is necessary 

 to gather their food. Hence, with care and artificial feeding, the incli- 

 nation to active exercise is bred out of them, and a Short-Horn or Here- 

 ford will keep fat on what a Texan would run off in untamable muscular 

 efforts. Thus, for domestic use, the highly-bred Short-Horn or Here- 

 ford possesses two important advantages over the wild Texan, viz : early 

 maturity, and the tendency to fatten readily. 



A raw-boned ox, or one with a hide like a board, will not fatten kindly. 

 Hence, the outlines should be square or round, with no undue bony 

 prominences, and the skin should be soft, but firm and supple to the 

 touch. 



Restlessness, Avhich is only another term for wildness, should never 

 be tolerated in anv breeding animal. Such animals should be sent to 



