THE DISEASES OF CATTLE. 157 



customary so soon as a boy had accumulated a few pence, to in- 

 vest the same in a rabbit (a favorite animal at that period), con- 

 sequently we had a community of juvenile rabbit raisers, and 

 from the results of past experience, as observed by the older 

 boys, a rule was adopted among us that the doe should not be 

 put to the buck until she had attained full maturity. The 

 reason assigned for this rule was, " Early breeding prevented the 

 doe from growing f* the facts were evident, still we knew not 

 the why, nor wherefore, but acted on the spur of experience. 

 Physiologists have assigned the above as the true cause, and 

 have in their writings pointed out the woeful results which often 

 follow a too early use of the purely animal functions and organs. 

 I seriously urge farmers to give this subject that attention which 

 it evidently demands ; by so doing they will prevent many of the 

 unnecessary abortions which are almost constantly occurring. 



Among the higher orders of creation the same law holds 

 good ; in fact, there can be no deviation from it without incur- 

 ring the hazard of paying the penalty. 



Heifers should never be put to the bull until they have at- 

 tained the age of three or four years ; at this period they are 

 in their prime. If they happen to have acquired too much fat, 

 their daily allowance must be reduced. 



Human growth, according to the best authority ceases be- 

 tween the ages of twenty and twenty-five ; in very warm re- 

 gions, however, where development and decay are universally 

 allowed to be more rapid, the inhabitants come to maturity 

 much earlier. A superior class of human beings can only be 

 produced by selections and exclusions similar to those so suc- 

 cessfully employed in rearing the inferior orders ; we may re- 

 joice in a Fulton, Franklin, or Webster, occasionally (by 

 mere accident), the parents of such being absolutely ignorant 

 of the first principles of physiology. But in the breeder's lan- 

 guage, such are in possession of the "prerequisites.^^ In the 

 first place, they had not entered the marriage relationship prior 

 to the age of reason ; the parents, if we mistake not, were full 

 grown men and women — not boys nor girls ; they possibly 

 possessed a sound mind, and healthy constitution, free from 

 14 



