tition by means of tillage, and by selecting the 

 most promising for domestication, they are en- 

 abled to use all their energy for the development 

 of those qualities which add to their intrinsic 

 value, instead of expending it in the struggle for 

 existence. Given, thus, free access to the soil and 

 sunshine, with needful nourishment supplied and 

 their fungous or parasitical enemies destroyed, 

 the domesticated plants yield trustful obedience 

 to the protecting hand of the husbandman. Freed 

 altogether from the necessity of self -protection 

 they become prolific and pour into the world's 

 bread basket in marvelous abundance the seeds 

 a single one of which would suffice to answer Na- 

 ture's law for the propagation of species. This 

 surplus of yield for which each plant has need of 

 but a single seed, and more especially this im- 

 provement of quality for which the plant has no 

 concern, is Nature's reciprocal reward for having 

 given her children gratuitously that protection 

 which otherwise they would have had to provide 

 for themselves. 



Nor is animal life less susceptible of improve- 

 ment. Between the animal wild and the animal 

 domesticated that is whether Nature-bred or 

 man-bred the range in quality is as marked as 

 that which separates the savage from the phi- 

 losopher. 



Nature demands only strength, endurance ; but 

 man demands quality and excellence, and he pro- 

 ceeds scientifically to accomplish his purpose. By 

 conscious design and a sort of mental architecture 

 the animal to be is planned, and the picture thus 

 conceived in the brain of the breeder becomes in- 

 carnated in the form, size and character of the 

 animal. Not only is the animal created with the 

 desired quality as to its parts and products, but its 



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