PREFACE. 



The truth of the Greek proverb, that " a great 

 book is a great evil," is no where more apparent 

 than in the construction of works on agricultural 

 concerns. Those who have attended to the sub- 

 ject well know, that the profitable management 

 of live-stock is by far the most difficult branch 

 of farming, as it is here that improvement is pecu- 

 liarly tardy ; and from this we might infer that 

 authors would endeavour so to arrange and sim- 

 plify their treatises as to enable every one to 

 obtain the bearings of the study at the smallest 

 possible expense and trouble. Such, however, is 

 not the case. Many would appear to have done 

 their best so to dilute and mystify the little which 

 is known about the matter, that it is nearly im- 

 possible for any one, not gifted with more than 

 ordinary power of application, to arrive at any 

 thing like just conclusions. To avoid this error 

 has been my object in the following pages. Such 

 points only^&^ve of real importance have been 



