And the taste of our people is for other pur- 

 jsuits rather than agriculture. Those who stick 

 to the farm, study the best methods of cultiva- 

 tion and manuring, and aim to produce the best 

 articles at the least cost would seem to be cer- 

 tain of their reward. 



We shall have periods of depression in the fu- 

 ture as in the past. But as long- as people need 

 food, the farmer is sure of a market for his 

 products. He is sure of a fair compensation for 

 his labor, skill and intelligence. 



But this does not satisfy our young farmers. 

 They see their brother and friends winning wealth 

 and distinction in other pursuits, and they ask 

 af there are any prizes to be won in agriculture. 



I believe there are in farming as great and as 

 many opportunities for "doing good and making 

 money" as in any other business of life. We 

 are apt to think that all the past discoveries and 

 inventions have been made. We think that 

 Bakewell, the Collings, Ellman, Jonas Webb, 

 Hammond and others in the past have so im- 

 proved on cattle and sheep that there is nothing 

 more for us to do except to retain and perpetu- 

 ate the improvement. There cannot be a greater 

 mistake. Notwithstanding all that science and 

 art have done, the production of flesh, meat and 

 fat is still a very costly operation. To convert 

 the carbon of grass and corn into the carbon of 

 fat and butter we have at present to submit to 

 a great loss- Even with our best breeds of cat- 

 tle and sheep, our most experienced feeders 

 have to submit to a loss of at least ninety per 

 cent, of the albuminoids of the food. In other 

 words if you feed a steer or a sheep a quantity 

 of grass and grain containing 100 pounds of nitro- 

 gen, you rarely get in the growth of the animal 

 consuming the food an amount of flesh, skin, 

 hair and wool containing 10 Ibs. of nitrogen. 

 The other 90 bis. are to a large extent used to 

 "run the machine." Is there no chance for 

 improvement here ? We have the experience of 

 the past and the science of the future to aid us. 

 We have not to grope our way in the dark as 

 Bakewell did. We know what we want and in 

 what direction to look for it. Depend upon it, 

 we shall yet have breeds of cattle, sheep, swine 

 and poultry far superior as meat, milk and wool 

 producers to anything the world has yet seen. 

 There are great opportunities for the young 

 farmer of the present and the future. We have 

 in this country seen a single cow sell at public 

 auction for over $40,000 ; and I suppose it is a 

 fact that the late Mr. Hammond refused $30,000 

 for one of his rams. In one of the northern 

 counties of New York, where the thermometer 

 goes down 40 degrees below zero, an American 

 breeder had a choice herd of Short-horn cattle. 

 An English breeder purchased part of the herd 

 at a high figure by telegraph. And only a few 

 days ago an American breeder "cabled "to a 

 brother breeder in England and bought his en- 

 tire herd of thoroughbred Berkshire swine. A 

 few Ibs. of potatoes have been sold for $500, and 

 the seed of a well-bred tomato for a much higher 

 eum. In England the offspring of a Yorkshire 

 sow was sold for money enough to build a 

 church, and in this country a breeder of Essex 

 pigs has done nearly as well. The purchaser of 

 a single pair of pure-bred Essex swine has sold 

 pigs for over $10,000, and has a large herd left. 

 And there is a real substantial basis to all this. 

 A good, pure-bred boar when put to common 

 gows will get pigs that at five weeks old are 

 certainly well worth $1 a head more than com- 

 mon pigs ; and such a boar as can be often 

 purchased for $20 or $25 can directly increase 

 this additional value to at least a thousand pigs. 

 The breeder who sells him for $20 gets pay for his 

 skill and labor, and the purchaser and his neigh- 

 bors obtain even still further profits. There are, 

 therefore, prizes grand prizes in agriculture, 

 and they are obtained, not at the loss of some 

 one else, but to the benefit of all concerned. 



AMERICAN LIVE STOCK. 

 By L.F. ALLEN. 



The subject on which your executive commit/- 

 tee has invited me to address you, viz, " Our 

 live stock interests, in their history, condition, 

 and prospects," is far too broad in its scope to 

 be compressed within the limits of an address 

 ou an occasion like the present. Indeed, it can 

 only be treated in a manner suggestive, rather 

 than practical, or even historical. 



The history of the live stock of the United 

 States, from the first settlement of our Atlan- 

 tic seaboard to its present wonderful expansion 

 to the shores of the Pacific, would be almost a 

 history of the people themselves, so close has 

 been the association of their domestic animals 

 with the fortunes of the agricultural popula- 

 tion. The limits of this paper will only allow 

 me to touch on the introduction of our domes- 

 tic animals, and follow them briefly for about 

 two hundred and fifty years of progress into 

 their present condition and prospects for the 

 future. 



It is a very broad subjectthe entire category 

 of our farm-stock embracing the nobility of 

 the horse; the utility of the ass, and the hy- 

 brid offspring of both, the mule; the branches 

 of the bovine race: the cow for milk, the ox 

 for labor, and the bullock for beef; the sheep 

 for its flesh and wool ; the swine for flesh, lard, 

 and oil ; not ommitting poultry, and even the 

 "little busy bee," which contributes to our 

 household comforts and luxuries. You will 

 therefore excuse the brevity of my remarks in 

 each department, as any questions suggested 

 may more fully be studied by reference to the 

 many able works devoted to different branches 

 of this interest. 



First in order may be mentioned. 



THE HOR8B. 



His domestic history is coeval with that of 

 mankind. He has contributed in no small de- 

 gree to man's civilization. Toe most ancient of 

 human anuals, botn sacred and profane, nave 

 eulogized him. His prowess has been extolled 

 in histories of war ; in domestic servitude his 

 indispensable labors have been grateiuily ac- 

 knowledged; in luxury he is an indispensable 

 agent, and altogether the noblest annual ever 

 under human control. 



The first introduction of the horse to the vast 

 territory now comprising the United States of 

 America was m ail propability made by the 

 Spaniards on the coast of Florida, souie years 

 previous to the settlement of the early English 

 and other European colonists on our Atlantic 

 shores. History gives us little or no account of 

 the breeds and characters of those early iuipor- 

 tatious. TheFloiida Spaniards came out cnief- 

 ly as gold hunters, and what horses they 

 brought with them were in all probability of the 

 Audalusiau or ordinary Spanish race, wnich 

 were lor many centuries bred by the Moots in 

 Spain, and subsequently by their Castilliau cou- 

 querers. Those tiorses were small in size, good 

 in draught aud under ttie saddle, hardy iu con- 

 8 tituUon, and capable of undergoing great fa- 



