ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 505 



and habits of animals to such degree that he can work his will 

 with them almost irrespective of the natural conditions. This 

 domestication began before man emerged from the savage 

 state before recorded history began. The dog and cat were 

 doubtless among the earliest forms, and the camel, the horse, 

 the sheep, the donkey, the hog, the pigeon, the chicken, all 

 have been very long in domestication. 



The qualities that would make an animal suitable for 

 domestication, and which doubtless helped to determine what 

 forms should be domesticated, are: some gentleness of temper 

 and lack of extreme nervousness, capability of taking training, 

 ability to become adapted to new surroundings, some love of 

 locality, and usefulness, for food or for some other of man's 

 real or fancied needs. The effect of domestication on animals 

 has been to soften and dull their original wild instincts, to 

 render them less active and alert, to render them dependent on 

 the care which man gives them, and to produce a tendency to- 

 take on fat easily when food is plenty. 



510. The Animal Industries. The animal industries clus- 

 ter chiefly, but not wholly, about the domestic animals. These 

 domestic industries relate to horses, cattle, mules, sheep, hogs, 

 poultry (including chickens, turkeys, pigeons, geese, and ducks), 

 and constitute a large part of agriculture in the United States 

 to-day. The successful pursuit of these industries involves a 

 scientific knowledge of the animals reared and of their possi- 

 bilities and demands. Much of this in the past has been done 

 in a haphazard sort of way, somewhat incidental to the raising 

 of crops. In the last half-century, however, there has been a 

 better application of the known principles of stock-breeding 

 and of selection than before. The modern stock-breeder crosses 

 and recrosses various strains of cattle or hogs in order to get 

 variety of result. Then he selects what pleases him most and 

 breeds that in such a way as to fix and increase the features 

 which he regards as most profitable, whether it be swiftness, 

 size, milk-giving, cream-producing, finer wool, fertility, or the 

 power to take on fat. This is the reason we have so many 

 varieties of all the animals that have been long in domes- 



