INTRODUCTORY. 17 



intrinsic value for breeding purposes may exist in an 

 animal and yet make very little show. Such an one 

 may not even look so well to a casual observer, as a 

 grade, or cross-bred animal, which although valuable 

 as an individual, is not, for breeding purposes, worth a 

 tenth part as much. 



Let us suppose two farmers to need a bull ; they go 

 to seek and two are offered, both two years old, of 

 similar color, form and general appearance. One is 

 offered for twenty dollars — for the other a hundred is 

 demanded. Satisfactory evidence is offered that the 

 latter is no better than any or all of its ancestors for 

 many generations back on both sides, or than its kin- 

 dred — that it is of a pure and distinct breed, that it 

 possesses certain well known hereditary qualities, that 

 it is suited for a definite purpose, it may be a Short- 

 horn, noted for large size and early maturity, it may be 

 a Devon, of fine color and symmetry, active and hardy, 

 it may be an Ayrshire, noted for dairy qualities, or of 

 some other definite breed, whose uses, excellencies 

 and deficiencies are all well known. 



The other is of no breed whatever, perhaps it is 

 called a grade or a cross. The man who bred it had 

 rather confused ideas, so far as he had any, about 

 breeding, and thought to combine all sorts of good 

 qualities in one animal, and so he worked in a little 



