SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



21 



mitted and diffused. And, dependent as we are upon tlic 

 quality of the female, upon those qualities which will best 

 unite with and develop the qualities of the male, it is to the 

 latter that we are to look for the advancement we are to make 

 in breeding. Hence the fabulous prices paid for males of all 

 animals which are bred for the farm ; hence the large incomes 

 of the pioneers in breeding, for the use of the males, — Mr. 

 Bakewell having received 130,000 in one year for the use of 

 his rams, and the Messrs. Colling having received equally 

 exorbitant prices for the use of their bulls — facts which our 

 farmers should remember, when they are willing to keep bulls 

 for the service of which they do not expect to receive a remu- 

 nerative price. There is no more profit in using a poor bull, 

 than there is in keeping a poor cow. 



Aj^rshire Bull, "Albert.' 



In selecting a bull, regard should be had, of course, to the 

 object of breeding, this being decided by climate, soil, and 

 location. The description already given of the dairy cow, will 

 apply somewhat to the bull. Mr. Alton remarks, that " the 

 Ayrshire farmers prefer their dairy bulls according to the 

 feminine aspect of their heads, necks, and fore-quarters, and 

 wish them not round behind, but broad at the hoop-bones and 

 hips ; and they like them best that are full in the flank." It 

 is particularly important that shelliness of skin and roundness 

 of buttock should be avoided. There is no end to the mischief 



