No. 10. 



Jin American Herd Booh. 



S25 



Flowers and Shrubs. — Why does not 

 every lady who can afford it, have a gerani- 

 um or some other flower in her window- 

 It is very cheap — its cheapness is next to no- 

 thing, if you raise it from seed ; or from a 

 slip; and it is a beauty and a companion. It 

 was remarked of Leigh Hunt, that it sweet- 

 ens the air, rejoices the eye, links you with 

 Nature, and is something to love. And if it 

 cannot love you in return, it cannot hate 

 you ; it cannot utter a hateful thing, even 

 if you neglect it; for, though it is all beauty, 

 it hath no vanity; and such being the case, 

 and living as it does, purely to do you good 

 and afford you pleasure, how will you be 

 able to neglect itl We receive in imagina- 

 tion the scent of these good natured leaves, 

 which allowed you to carry oft' their per- 

 fiime on your fingers ; for good natured they 

 are, in that respect, above all other plants, 

 and fitted for the hospitality of our room. 

 The very feel of the leaf has a household 

 warmth in it — something analogous to cloth- 

 ing and comfort. 



An American Herd Book. 



Cattle breeders throughout the Union, will not fail 

 to give attention to the following work. We have no 

 doubt it will be well edited, and so conducted as to do 

 justice to the subject.— Ed. 



The inconvenience arising from the want 

 of a work of this kind, is already greatly felt 

 in the United States; and with the rapid 

 multiplication of our herds, is continually in- 

 creasing. There may now be estimated, at 

 least two thousand thorough-bred Short Horn 

 cattle on this side the Atlantic, distributed in 

 the hands of perhaps five hundred different 

 breeders. These animals, in most cases, 

 have been selecied from among the best 

 herds in England, and imported at great ex- 

 pense; and their descendants widely dissem- 

 inated into every State of our Union, and the 

 Canadas. Strict attention has been given to 

 their breeding, and great care bestowed to 

 maintain their original excellence. The cli- 

 mate and soils of America have proved con- 

 genial to their growth, and from the rapidity 

 with which they have multiplied, and their 

 present comparative cheapness, we may anti- 

 cipate that but few further importations will 

 be made from abroad. Still, the decided ad- 

 vantages conferred upon one of the most im- 

 portant branches of our agriculture, by the 

 introduction of the Short Horns into this 

 country, have distinctly established them as 

 a race to be perpetuated in their purity ; and 

 the progressive improvement in American 

 husbandry, is a sufficient guaranty that they 



will hereafter maintain their exalted charac- 

 ter in elevating the standard of American 

 cattle. 



So important was it esteemed by the Short 

 Horn breeders of England, to establish and 

 record the lineage of their unrivalled herds, 

 that in the year l'"22 the first volume of 

 Coates' Herd Book was published, containing 

 the pedigrees of over 2,500 animals ; and so 

 strongly has the public mind sanctioned the 

 utility of the work and its continuance, that 

 three successive supplements have from time 

 to time been ist-ued, and another is now in 

 the press, embracing altogether, a list of pro- 

 bably 12,000 cattle. 



In the great mass of these, the American 

 breeder has little intere.'-t; although, from 

 the absence of a domestic record, many of our 

 citizens have encountered the inconvenience 

 and expense of tran.smitting a list of their 

 herds to England for registry. A moment's 

 reflection will convince us of the absurdity 

 of a perpetual dependence upon foreign re- 

 cords for the pedigrees of American stock ; 

 and the great expense of obtaining the en- 

 tire English Herd Book, comprising five 

 large volumes, at a cost of not less than 

 forty dollars, are subjects not unworthy of 

 consideration ; add to this, the probability of 

 errors in printing the registry at such a dis- 

 tance, where corrections can hardly be made, 

 together with the possession of no greater 

 assurance for the integrity of the records 

 than may be found at home, and the proprie- 

 ty of at once establishing an American Herd 

 Book, will be apparent. 



A work of this kind has long been agitated 

 by various gentlemen connected with cattle 

 breeding in America; but no one has hitherto 

 ventured the experiment, although earnestly 

 called for by a numerous body of breeders. 



Its demand then being connected, it re- 

 mains to be seen whether the public will 

 sustain an effort to accomplish it. It is a la- 

 bor involving industry, research and di.'^crim- 

 ination; and in its proper execution, demand- 

 ing no ordinary degree of firmness and de- 

 cision in resisting undue admissions within its 

 pages. It may, perhaps, be deemed an act 

 of presumption in the undersigned to assume 

 this responsibility; but he can only answer 

 that some one must undertake it, if it be un- 

 dertaken at all; and having been a consider- 

 able breeder of Short Horns for many years, 

 and more or less conversant with most of the 

 principal herds of this country, he considers 

 his observation and experience, together with 

 a familiar acquaintance with the volumes of 

 the English Herd Book, somewhat of a guar- 

 anty for the performance. 



Be it remembered however, that the task 

 is not assumed without mature reflection, and 



