51 



usual sire is sixteen to seventeen hands in height, 

 compact in body, symmetrical in shape, clean in 

 limb, hardy in exercise, and enduring: in labor. 

 The stallions have been of decided service in 

 crossing- with our mares of "all work," as well 

 as in breeding with mares of their own kind ; for 

 the mixed uses to which they may be applied 

 are a valuable addition to the horse stock of the 

 country. 



Next to and partially associated with the Nor- 

 mans, may be named the Percherom. As a rule, 

 they are somewhat larger in size. -They are also 

 natives of France, and applicable to the same 

 uses as the Normans, and of equally good shape, 

 style and appearance. They have been consid- 

 erably imported into several of our states, of 

 late years, and received with approbation among 

 those who need a beast of their kind. They may 

 be pronounced a decided acquisition, and it is to 

 be hoped that the enterprise of their importers 

 may be liberally rewarded. From the numbers 

 of both sexes now here, a healthful production 

 of their kind, both in general excellence and 

 purity of blood, may be anticipated. 



Nor in our horse category should the lesser, 

 and even diminutive Pony be overlooked. For a 

 century or more past they have been imported 

 into the United States, of different character 

 and style, from the Welsh and English pony of 

 twelve to thirteen hands, down to the diminu- 

 tive little Shetland from the northern isles of 

 Scotland, of three feet or less in stature. They 

 are usually symmetrical in shape and appear- 

 ance, of wonderful strength, docility, hardiness 

 and endurance. Although of little use as labor- 

 ing beasts, they minister largely to the pleasure 

 of our families, are the delights of our children, 

 and worthy of attention and propagation as in- 

 nocent promoters of luxury and enjoyment. 

 Under proper care and attention they thrive as 

 well in America as in the countries from which 

 they came to us. 



THE ASS. 



This useful and indispensable animal useful 

 in mule-breeding as well as in the propagation 

 of his own species is among the most important 

 items of our farm stock, and worthy of a dis- 

 criminating notice. On the Eastern continent 

 their utility is of as ancient date as that of the 

 horse, and among many nations and people their 

 labor is indispensable. They were early brought 

 into our American colonies, and from their first 

 introduction until some years of the present 

 century were widely used in the Atlantic, Nor- 

 thern and Middle States for the propagation of 

 mules for the West Indies and our southern do- 

 mestic markets. Since about the year 1820, mule 

 breeding and rearing in the Eastern States being 

 superseded by the cheaper facilities for produc- 

 ing them in several of the more western states, 

 the ass has ceased to be either an article of 

 breeding or commerce where they were first im- 

 ported, and is now rarely known within their 

 boundaries. Yet in the localities where now 

 most used, he has been improved both in size 

 and quality. Numerous importations have been 

 made during the last seventy years, from Spain, 

 Malta and other adjacent countries, of the best 

 blood of his race, and their produce, bred on the 

 females of American stock, have so improved 

 them that we can now exhibit the domestic ass 

 as equal, if not superior, to those of any other 

 country. Would time permit, we might even go 

 into particulars, to prove our assertion, but it 

 must now suffice to state the fact in general 

 terms. With us he is rarely used as a laboring 

 beast, his services being superseded by the mule, 

 as our country is happily free from that low 

 class of labor in which his drudgery is needed. 



THE MULE. 



The origin and history ot tnis peculiar ani- 

 mal is almost as ancient as that of his progeni- 

 tors, the ass and the horse. He has ever been 



useful in the industries of the people of many 

 nations, both ancient and modern, and to the 

 development of certain branches of our Ameri- 

 can agriculture, traffic, and commerce he is 

 widely appropriated and indispensable. The 

 early mules of the Eastern States were small in 

 size, seldom attaining a height of more than 

 fifteen hands, and usually less, yet of great 

 strength in labor, endurance, and longevity; 

 but the western mule has far exceeded him in 

 size, weight, and adaptation to the heavier 

 work demanded of him. It is now not uncom- 

 mon to find him sixteen, even seventeen hands 

 high, with a body in proportion, and frequent- 

 ly a comeliness in form exciting the admira- 

 tion of those who are partial to his employ- 

 ment. His u*os in the various labors demanded 

 of him are so well known that it is unnecessary 

 to name them ; and in comparing him with the 

 mules of other countries, it may be truthfully 

 said that the American mule has no superior, 

 and but few equals, and thus constitutes an im- 

 portant staple of our agricultural wealth. A 

 proper history of the progress and present con- 

 dition of either the American ass or mule has 

 never yet been written for publication other 

 than in detached scraps or pamphlets, yet they 

 are subjects well worthy the employment of an 

 able pen, and it is hoped that such a labor will 

 be undertaken by some one fully competent to 

 its execution. 



AMERICAN CATTLE. 



To give a history of the rise, progress, and 

 present condition of this important department 

 of our industry would be to write an elaborate 

 book, the like of which was written some four 

 years ago ; but, it has fallen, I fear, too seldom 

 under the notice of those whose interests would 

 be promoted by its perusal, even under its short- 

 comings and imperfections. However that may 

 be, I shall briefly, yet as accurately as my ob- 

 servation may allow, give some notes and sug- 

 gestions on their very wide importance. Neat- 

 cattle, in the sense usually understood with us, 

 or, more strictly, animals of the bovine race, 

 were introduced into our Atlantic States soon 

 after the first settlers came over from Europe. 

 Those settlers brought with them animals rear- 

 ed in the vicinities from which they themselves 

 came, of various nationalities. Their cattle 

 were of no particular breeds or distinctive 

 names, that we have learned, but such as served 

 the wants of the settlers in the production of 

 milk, the propagation of their kind, their meat 

 for food, and their labor for agriculture ani- 

 mals of a common order only, as improved 

 breeds in those days had not received much at- 

 tention in the countries from which the immi- 

 grants came. Anterior, however, to the coloni- 

 al settlements in what are now the United 

 States, the Spaniards had introduced many cat- 

 tle from their own country into the territories 

 of Mexico and further south, and in the broad, 

 luxuriant pastures of those regions they multi- 

 plied into numerous herds, with little attention 

 to their improvement, as they are now found 

 and known ; but of late years, since the annexa- 

 tion of Texas, New Mexico, and California, they 

 have become quite an article of commerce and 

 consumption in other states. 



In nearly all the grass-producing or grazing 

 portions of our older states, as the people pro- 

 gressed in their modes of agriculture, their cat- 

 tle, increased and multiplied, were usually well 

 cared for, and answered all the purposes de- 

 manded of them. In some sections of the coun- 

 try they were better cared for than in others, 

 and possibly improved in quality over the origi- 

 nals from which they sprung; yet as the set- 

 tlers, after some years, began to migrate to 

 different localities, taking portions of their 

 h^rds with them, the cattle became intermixed 

 with those derived from other nationalities, 

 so that in process of time a general intermix- 



