80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



that is, constitution; and I want to speak for a moment 

 of my own views of constitution in animals and man. We 

 have a very confused idea of constitution. You bear plenty 

 of men saying, " I want a cow that is hardy." What do 

 they mean by "hardy"? Why, they mean one that they 

 can neglect ; one that they can turn out to the tender mercies 

 of the north wind ; one that they can fairly deluge with cold 

 water ; one that they can expose to all kinds of ill treatment, 

 and she will stand up and survive. But, if they were wise, 

 they never would ask for a Jiardy cow, they would ask for a 

 cow of strong constitution. What is constitution? It is 

 this, gentlemen, — the power to endure to the end within the 

 line and limitation of your purpose. John L. Sullivan has 

 a constitution to stand up before a bruiser and be pounded 

 severely ; but if you stood him up before a'bank clerk's desk 

 and compelled him to do a bank clerk's work for a month, 

 he would die. His constitution would fail, and you would 

 wonder at it, wouldn't you? Why would his constitution 

 fail ? Because John L. Sullivan is not built that way. Now, 

 constitution is always governed first by purpose and by 

 functional adaptation. The constitution in a dairy cow 

 simply means that she has the power to do a dairy cow's 

 work, and survive, — not to do a Texas cow's work. A Texas 

 cow is about the poorest expression of motherhood that I 

 ever saw. I had three hundred of them after me once, and 

 they chased me two miles. No really good cow would ever 

 have done that. If a man is to be judged by the enthusiasm 

 of his following, I was the most popular man ever seen in 

 Texas. Now, the Texas cow has a constitution to endure 

 great straits, — severe northers sweeping off from the moun- 

 tains down to the plains, short feed, to go without water ; 

 but, gentlemen, you get no milk, you get no expression of 

 her purpose. Therefore, constitution must be looked for 

 from other stand-points than the popular notion of hardi- 

 ness : it must be gauged by the ability, within the close 

 line of the purpose, to endure the work. Now, it is just as 

 necessary to have a strong constitution in a dairy cow as it 

 would be in an Arab horse, in a hunting dog, or in a Texas 

 cow ; but it must be of a different kind. Where do you look 

 for it? The very best expression of constitution, gentlemen, 



