54 HERDS AND FLOCKS AND HORSES. 



unspeakable animal, and as we recall him in his squalid sty of 

 the old days, he almost seemed so ; but look at him now, as we 

 see him feeding on the broad acres of this Western land, or 

 contemplate him in prize lots at the great stock shows of the 

 country, and we stand amazed at the wondrous change. 



Compare for an instant the old spotted sow with her snout 

 buried to the eyes in disgusting swill, as she stands up to her 

 belly in filth, and then look upon the Berkshire, the Poland- 

 China, the Chester White, the Duroc-Jersey, the Tamworth, the 

 Yorkshire and the Hampshire breeds in their surroundings to- 

 day. Comparisons they say are odious, but can anyone imagine 

 anything more elevating than we see in this extraordinary 

 transformation? The stock breeders' calling is a manly, splen- 

 did and enobling one. The man who engages in it along the 

 lines that he must follow in order to make a success of his un- 

 dertaking, is helping the Creator's great work designed for a 

 goal of exquisite achievement ; he is playing well his part ; he 

 is feeding his brethren ; he is improving the health and strength 

 of his fellow men, adding to the manliness of man, and increas- 

 ing the wealth and prosperity of the world. 



Sheep, as an emblem of gentleness, we have loved to hear 

 of and read about in our childhood days, and we learned to 

 love them when we saw them in the fields and heard the 

 mothers call their lambs, as the little creatures raced and 

 gamboled in the meadows. We recall the tinkling bells, as the 

 flock was slowly driven down some beautiful lane to its fold 



