10 PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 



curing some carding, spinning and weaving machinery, 

 adapted to no particular purpose but which can some- 

 how be used for any, and attempting to make fabrics 

 of cotton, of wool, and of linen with it. I do not say 

 that cloth would not be produced, but he would assur- 

 edly be slow in getting rich by it. 



The stock grower needs not only to have a clear and 

 definite aim in view, but also to understand the means 

 by which it may best be accomplished. Among these 

 means a knowledge of the principles of breeding holds 

 a prominent place, and this is not of very easy acquisi- 

 tion by the mass of farmers. The experience of any 

 one man would ^o but a little way towards acquiring 

 it, and there has not been much published on the sub- 

 ject in any form within the reach of most. I have been 

 able to find nothing like an extended systematic treatise 

 on the subject, either among our own or the foreign 

 agricultural literature which has come within my no- 

 tice. Indeed, from the scantiness of what appears to 

 have been written, coupled with the fact that much 

 knowledge must exist somewhere, one is tempted to 

 believe that not all which might have done so, has yet 

 found its way to printers' ink. That a great deal has 

 been acquired, we know, as we know a tree — by its 

 fruits. That immense achievements have been accom- 

 plished is beyond doubt. 



