156 itTBTRALIAN AGRrCTTLTURE. 



Connection Between Live Stock and Soil. That 

 a knowledge of geology is desirable in laying out land for 

 stock-rearing, we have only to note some of the effects 

 evidently produced by soils. Whether speaking of horses, 

 cattle, or sheep, in either species we find a great many 

 really different varieties designated by the common 

 term of breeds. These have originated partly through 

 selection and cultivation, but chiefly by the influence of 

 soil and climate. Breeds owe their origin to these two 

 conditions to no inconsiderable extent. Sheep of the same 

 breed placed on different soils in Australia, in a few years, 

 become so much altered in appearance and in condition as to 

 be almost unrecognisable as belonging to the same family. 

 Much the same effects become apparent in cattle and horses. 

 All modern breeds correspond in size and weight with the 

 nature of the soil and the climatic conditions where 

 they were developed. All the established breeds tell the 

 tale of climate and feed. They may alter somewhat in 

 color, according to the tastes of the breeders; but the 

 animals are in reality what the soil and the feed grown on 

 that soil has made them. No amount of artificial feeding 

 or breeding has the same result. Nature has certain laws, 

 and none more strict than in the matter of breeding live 

 stock. Were it not for that limit which soil and climate 

 put upon races of animals, new breeds might be "evolved 

 indefinitely. Animal life essentially owes its originality to 

 the geological and chemical contents of the surroundings in 

 which " they live, and move, and have their being." No 

 breeder of live stock should overlook this great fact when 

 settling in a new locality, with the intention of breeding. 

 In cases where climate and soil are similar, stock can be 

 removed with safety and success from one district to 

 another, not otherwise, or failure is sure to follow. 



Soil, Health, Diseases. And while soil influences are 

 proverbial in regulating the formation of breeds, they have 

 important influences upon the health. It has been 

 ascertained, for example, that in carboniferous country 

 certain diseases are prevalent, which are markedly absent 

 in other parts. This is in cases attributed to the presence of 

 lime, iron, &c., or their absence in other cases, which give 



