SECRETARY'S REPORT. 123 



Now, that is the kind of animal that is worth having in New 

 England ; I will not say the breed, for I will not undertake to 

 define which hreed is best adapted to any given locality ; let 

 every farmer judge for himself. There are men here who know 

 perfectly well that the introduction of a Shorthorn bull into 

 their region is a perfect blessing to them. I see plenty of men 

 who know that the introduction of an Ayreshire bull into their 

 region is a little more than a blessing to them. Let every 

 farmer judge according to his necessities, and you will then 

 have, not the poor kind of animals I have described, but good 

 kinds, each of a good quality, and each adapted to the locality 

 in which it is produced. If there is any section of the State in 

 which large, heavy cattle can be produced to profit, let them be 

 produced there ; and those of us who live in a section where 

 the pastures are shorter, where it is important that the milking 

 powers of our animals should be kept up almost the season 

 round ; where we are obliged to feed good hay to our cattle 

 and some grain ; where the temptation of a milk market is not 

 to be resisted, even if a little money is lost in the winter, — ^in 

 these sections, we must have an entirely different kind of animal. 

 Let this be the rule, — a sort of universal rule, — we will have a 

 good kind of animal, at any rate ; a kind and description 

 adapted to the climate, soil and location in which we live. 



Now, then, what is this kind ? There are certain rules which 

 you cannot violate. You may breed for one thing or another, 

 but there is a certain shape of animal which belongs to a proper 

 and good kind, which you cannot violate in any way. You 

 cannot make a good cow out of a poor one ; at the same time 

 there are certain rules by which you can judge of the different 

 kinds of animal the farmer may adopt. For instance, you 

 begin at the head. Every man knows that there is no animal 

 0/1 the face of the earth that has not just as much expression in 

 its countenance as any man, according to the class to which it 

 belongs ; and that is almost the first pre-requisite. I do not 

 mean to say that I would have animals with a fine-drawn, small- 

 sized, or admirably-chiselled head, but I would have heads that 

 present indications of strength ; width of forehead ; not a great 

 preponderance of horns, but the horns nicely set on ; great 

 length from the root of the horns down to the eyes ; width 

 between the *eyes ; the face below the eyes not brought down 



