124 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



Opinion, in the breeders of both cattle and horses, 

 seems to incline to ihe practice of selecting animals 

 for breeding more with reference to certain desired 

 qualities than to size ; certainly this has been the 

 case with the breeds of improved Short Horns and 

 Devons ; though, owing to superior care and keeping, 

 an evident improvement in size as well as quality is 

 manifest. In no race of cattle is the difference be- 

 tween the size of the male and female more marked 

 than in that of the Devon, the bull occupying a middle 

 place in size' between the ox and the cow, the latter 

 being the smallest of the three. On the contrary, 

 in some of the other English races of cattle, the male 

 and female are of nearly equal size ; or the advan- 

 tage, if any, is on the side of the female. It would 

 seem, therefore, that more stress has been laid on 

 the point of size by theoretical, and perhaps by prac- 

 tical men, than it has deserved ; and that the great 

 matter at issue is the purity of blood in the animal 

 or in the cross. 



Reasoning from the nature of the case, it would 

 seem that the bull and cow should be nearly of the 

 same size ; or that, if there is any difference, the 

 advantage in size should be on the side of the female. 

 If the male is much the largest in stature, the off- 

 spring will be weak-bodied and leggy. If the male 

 is the smallest, the progeny will be compact, heavy- 

 bodied, and tough ; tiiough a very great disparity on 

 this side will produce animals far from beautiful. 

 Extremes are here to be avoided ; and if attempts 

 are made to modify the size of animals by breeding, 

 care must be taken not to lower the purity of blood 

 in effecting this object. Many fine stocks of cuttle 

 and horses have been nearly ruined, both in England 

 r,nd in this country, by an injudicious attempt to in- 

 graft upon a breed of high blood some desirable qual- 

 ity of a low-bred race. As an instance, we may 

 give one that occurred in Virginia a few years since, 

 related by a writer in the Southern Agriculturist. 



