STOCK. 193 



at present, to breed these to the neglect of the other. And it 

 requires no small amount of judgment and foresight to deter- 

 mine in which line of distinct breeds he shall fight his way to 

 present pecuniary success or future permanent advantage to 

 himself and to tlie community. 



At the threshold of these experiments stands the bull. Any 

 defect here can be remedied only by long and skilful effort in 

 eliminating the same ; and the value of the imported bull lies 

 much in tliis, that he is the result of such care in the experi- 

 ments, as the breeders of Europe have been enabled to devote 

 to this subject, over the imperfect manner with which breeding 

 has been conducted among us. To attain equal results here 

 requires the same knowledge and care that have existed there ; 

 and no society devoted to the cause of agriculture has accom- 

 plished its work until it has entered upon such a course of 

 action as shall induce the farmers connected with it to pursue 

 the best known methods of attaining these desirable results. 

 That something has been done in this direction by the Hing- 

 liam Agricultural and Horticultural Society is made apparent 

 when we institute a comparison of the stock at its several exhi- 

 bitions. That more systematic methods are needed in order to 

 make the society as useful as is desirable is also very apparen.t 

 to any one who has been called upon to serve on the several 

 committees on stock. From this defect in system your Com- 

 mittee were unable to gain that knowledge, in relation to the 

 several animals on exhibition, which was important for them 

 to possess, in order to make a fair award of premiums. But 

 few of the exhibitors or their representatives were at the pens 

 to give such information ; and most of the stock embraced under 

 the head of calves was so scattered and interspersed among 

 other stock, and in many cases so imperfectly indicated by tlie 

 cards upon the pens, that your Committee have doubts whetlier 

 they succeeded in discovering all that were on exhibition ; and 

 they present tlicir award of prizes with no great degree of con- 

 fidence that their award indicates any remarkable degree of 

 skill and judgment in discovering the occult qualities which 

 undoubtedly exist in the very excellent specimens subjected 

 to their inspection, and whose comparative merits were passed 

 upon by their award. 



Q. BiCKNELL, Chairman. 

 26* 



