112 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE BREEDS. 



took on the Cheviot form, and only the strong ones 

 assumed the Highland character. The correct ex- 

 planation is, that such as had most Cheviot blood were 

 sure to become puny, from being unadapted to a her- 

 bage on which those that resembled the mountain 

 stock throve tolerably well. Strength and feebleness 

 were, in this instance, mere secondary matters. 



(91.) Things to be attended to in Crossing. — The 

 fact is, that, if you wish to have a particular hind of 

 sheep, you must first of all be in possession of a pasture 

 suitable for the new comers. You must consider the 

 influence of the individual parents on the progeny, the 

 size of the animals, their habits and dispositions, and 

 their peculiarities in regard to the time of their maturity* 

 and fattening properties ; and, having anticipated these 

 apparently trifling affairs, you must see that the surface 

 of your farm, its degree of exposure, and the quantity 

 and quality of its productions, are calculated for the 

 profitable maintenance of the animal in view. Far too 

 little attention is bestowed, at the commencement of 

 such an undertaking, on these all-swaying matters. 

 Farmers enter upon this, the most arduous of all profes- 

 sions, with the settled conviction, that nothing is so 

 simple as the engrafting of a race of animals on a par- 

 ticular part of a country. They have read, or heard, 

 of others who have gained fame, and a fortune, by 

 successful endeavours of the kind, and they think that 

 nothing is easier than to follow their example ; but they 

 forget the thoughtful hours, and irksome duties, these 

 men had to tolerate, before they could si)eak of any thing 

 like success. No animal can be made to forego at once 

 a long used food, an ancient locality, peculiarity of 



