122 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and outlawed animal, the bull, in New England, —the rww^ of 

 the farm ! How he has been decried and abused, because we 

 thought that all we needed was the cheapest male to be found 

 for the reproduction of the species. 



I am not at all surprised, nor are you, that under such man- 

 agement, our markets have been filled with inefficient animals. 

 Neither am I surprised, in view of such treatment of our male 

 animals as that, that we have been compelled to go elsewhere 

 and bring in matured bulls for the production of suitable 

 animals for our farms. It is an insult to the animal economy to 

 call upon a male or female to transact that business for which 

 he or she was intended by nature, until the faculties are all in 

 full force. That is true in regard to the animal kingdom every- 

 where. So you find that cattle always deteriorate under the 

 use of young bulls, and also, I think, under the use of too 

 young females. No horse has ever distinguished himself as a 

 stock-getter until he was mature. More time is wasted in using 

 young stallions than almost anything else. A horse is a bundle 

 of muscles, bones and fibres, intended for strength alone, and 

 he can never transmit tliem until he has reached his perfection ; 

 and so, in England, " King Herod" and " Eclipse," and in this 

 country, old " Black Hawk," " Ethan Allen," " Rysdick's Ham- 

 l)letonian," and all the distinguished stock horses we have ever 

 had, never did their best work until they had reached the 

 maturity of life. This is a most remarkable fact, and history 

 shows it to be true in regard to all of them. I was glad to 

 hear Mr. Goodman insist upon that point, which was presented 

 by Professor Law, in regard to the use of immature animals. 



Then in regard to the adaptation of animals to particular 

 localities. If you do not do it yourself, nature will. You can- 

 not raise Shorthorns upon the dry pastures of Plymouth and 

 Essex. If you put them there they will l)ecorae something else 

 in the course of time. It is wiser to go to work and put the 

 ])roper animals there to begin with. Jt is an invariable rule, 

 which cannot be violated witli impunity. " You cannot raise 

 grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles," any more than in 

 the olden time. 



Now in regard to the influences exerted upon animals. Don't 

 you know how I insisted upon it four or five years ago, that no 

 man could have two breeds of cattle on his farm at the same 



