ADAPTATION OF BREEDS. 21 



Now, it is a very curiovis fact that there is no breed of cattle 

 universally adapted to any large tract of territory. We are led 

 to suppose that the Shorthorns are adapted to all parts of Eng- 

 land ; but it is not so. Some of the most careful and accurate 

 English farmers will tell you that it is impossible to raise Short- 

 horns in their region. A most intelligent gentleman from 

 Bruton, in Somerset, called on me the other day, who is a 

 breeder of Herefords, his father, who occupies the farm adjoin- 

 ing, being a breeder of Devons, and vfhen I spoke of raising 

 Shorthorns, he said : " The thing is impossible in Somerset." 

 And yet that man was breeding and feeding cattle simply and 

 solely for the production of meat. It is only in particular 

 localities in England that the Ayrshire, the West Highlander 

 and other breeds of that description are produced. Knowing 

 the fact, that even on that small island it is impossible to find 

 any one breed of cattle adapted to the whole business of farm- 

 ing there, how can we expect to find a breed adapted to any one 

 purpose in all sections of this country ? The thing is impossible. 

 There is a gentleman in Essex County who, forty years ago, 

 imported Shorthorns, and they failed entirely ; while at the 

 same time the farmers on the Connecticut River breed them 

 without difficulty, and have the best herds of cattle in New 

 England. So the Shorthorn went into some of the rich fields 

 of Maine, and into some of the fine pastures of New Hampshire, 

 and did well. But even that breed, with all the care with which 

 they have been long bred, are not universally adapted to the 

 purposes of ^farming. Neither is the Ayrshire, which really 

 stands next in the scale of artificial breeding for agricultural 

 purposes. I put the Shorthorn first, because there is no doubt 

 that the Shorthorn is the development of more care, more skill 

 and more intelligence, as a uniform breed of cattle, than any 

 other breed in the world. Next to that, I say, stands the Ayr- 

 shire. Now the Ayrshire, valuable as it is for dairy purposes in 

 Scotland and in many parts of New England, does not seem to 

 be equally valuable in all sections. Carried down into the 

 southern counties, where the pasturage is richer and stronger, it 

 does not do so well as on the hilly pastures of Scotland. In 

 Maryland it does not do so well as here. It takes on more 

 bone and a larger growth of flesh, but it does that at the 



