Vou XVI., Skcond Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., JULY, 1855. 



No. 7 



THE GENESEE FARMER, 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF 



AGRICULTUR E & HOR TICULTURE. 

 Volume XVI, Second Series, 1855 



DANIEI. LEE AND W. D. ALMS, EDITORS. 



JOSEPH FROST, HORTICULTURAL EDITOR. 



EACH NU>!BER CONTAINS 32 ROYAL OCTAVO PACES, IN 



DOUBLt; COLUMNS, AND TWELVE NUMBERS FORM 



A VOLUME OF 384 PARES IN A YEAR. 



Terms* 



Siasle Copy S0.50 



~ Copies, 2.00 



Eight Copies, 3.00 



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DAMEI. r>EE. 

 Fubtisher and Proprietifr, Ruchester, N. Y. 



PKIIfCIPLES OF mPEOVING DOMESTIC AUIMAIS. 



CHAPTER I. 



In applying the general principles of physiology to 

 'the improvement of animals for the use of man, we 

 shall confine our remarks mainly to the practices of 

 Breeding, Rearing, find Feeding. A volume might 

 be written on breeds and breeding, without exhaust- 

 ing the subject. Did time and space permit, it might 

 be instructive to review the principles of Zoology, so 

 far as to indicate the classes, orders, genera, and spe- 

 cies of such animals as are domesticated in this coun- 

 try, and point out the special advantages of each. 

 But this kind of information is less important to far- 

 mers (for whose perusal this essay is written) than a 

 knowledge of the origin of breeds, and of the true 

 principles of breeding. In the ox family, particularly 

 in Great Britain, the improvement of breeds, and high 

 breeding, ha\'e been carried farther than in any other 

 nation. The Bovida divide themselves into three 

 groups, namely: the Bisonline, the Buraline, and the 

 Tiiurine. The bison is seidom domesticated in the 

 United States; although one variety (the buffalo of 

 the western plains,) might easily be propagated to 

 any desirable extent. The Water-Ox, introduced re- 

 cently into South Carolina, by Dr. Davis, is proba- 



bly the only specimen of the Bxiraline group in this 

 country. The Bos Taurus is the common domesti- 

 cated o.x, of which there are many varieties and dis- 

 tinct breeds, and their crosses. Naturalists are not 

 agreed as to the fact whether our domestic groups 

 sprang originally from different species, or from one 

 species, ascribing, on the latter supposition, all chan- 

 ges in form and anatomical structure to the influence 

 of changes of climate, of food, and to cross-breeding 

 and breeding in line. Some difSculty e.xists in fixing 

 the exact limits of species; what one would desig- 

 nate as a variety only, another would characterize as 

 of a different' speeies. This is a matter of some im- 

 portance in breeding, for a hybrid formed by pairing 

 animals belonging to different species, like the ass and 

 the horse, h;is different constitutional powers and 

 functions from either of its parents. Both in a phy- 

 siological and economical point of view, hybridizing 

 is a very different process from that of cross-breeding. 

 The latter is a cross between varieties only; the for- 

 mer is a cross between distinct species. Like the 

 common mule, hybrids are rarely fertile. Cross- 

 breeds are not less so than their parents. Hence it 

 is not difficult to form a new breed of cattle, sheep, 

 hogs, horses, or dogs; nor to account for the hun- 

 dreds that already exist. 



The most common error in the propagation of ani- 

 mals is that of attempting to increase their size, in- 

 stead of trying to improve their form. Beasts of a 

 preternatural growth are extremely prone to defor- 

 mity, either in carcass, limbs, or head. If not mon- 

 sters in fact, they approach monstrosity in develop- 

 ment and predisposition. Nature begins to disown 

 them for their departure from her most salutary laws; 

 and their constitutions are too artificial to endure 

 hardships with impunity. Animals of a medium size 

 are the most perfect in their anatomical organization, 

 and therefore the most vigorous and healthv. By 



