1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 137 



the law of the dairy is applied to the breeding of thorough- 

 breds, — the animals given all the clover hay they will eat, 

 supplemented with a goodly allowance of green silage, 

 pumpkins, mangolds, malt sprouts, brewers' grains, cotton, 

 linseed and Buffalo meal, and sixty to eighty pounds of 

 warm water per day, and are given little or no exercise, but 

 coaxed to spend most of their time on comfortable beds, — 

 which would run the faster, the thoroughbred reared accord- 

 ing to the law of the dairy, or the steer reared according to 

 the law of the thoroughbred? 



It has been proven, time and again, that comfort or con- 

 genial conditions, as well as food, play an important part 

 not only in the direction of the growth, but in the character 

 of the living tissues. Tough or tender celery or asparagus, 

 beef and mutton, according to condition and nutrients, can 

 be produced at pleasure. 



No less potent are the laws of habit ; the brain and the 

 hand trained to work in one direction adapt themselves with 

 difficulty to unaccustomed lines of work ; the type-setter 

 makes but an indifferent carpenter, and the book-keeper a 

 poor farmer. The dairy cow is an unprofitable beefer, and 

 the beefer an . unprofitable milker ; the thoroughbred is 

 restive at slow, hard work, while the draft horse is a failure 

 when used according to the law of- roadsters. 



We find, then, that, while size and proportion have much 

 to do with the economical direction of energy, habit has 

 more. The cells of which the living tissues are composed, 

 having been long accustomed to using their energies in a 

 few well-defined directions, do not respond quickly when 

 directed into new and unaccustomed channels. The breeds 

 which have been bred for long periods for special purposes 

 have made a law unto themselves, and that, the very best, 

 consistent with the food, conditions and habits of themselves 

 and their ancestors ; that is to say, they have grown just as 

 good as they could. How may they be improved? By im- 

 proving all that goes to make up their lives, and by taking 

 advantage of the results of the knowledge of the wise and 

 successful who have preceded us. Let us not be deceived 

 into the belief that all we have to do is to seek, in some far-off 

 country, one or more superior animals to accomplish our 

 purposes. 



