34 



condition of those animals to which we are all attached, 

 and which deserve all our care ? 



In these remarks, gentlemen, I have not entered into 

 any careful investigation ; nor have I endeavored to dis- 

 cuss the rules of breeding, which have been taught by 

 experience and learned by careful observation. I have 

 not examined the different modes of feeding our animals. 

 But standing as I do, before those who have learned to 

 estimate the true value of an animal at a glance, who have 

 eyes in their fingers' ends, looking through the skin into 

 the internal economy of each organization, and who know 

 the mode of feeding required in each locality and for ev- 

 ery purpose, I have preferred to direct your attention to 

 the important relations borne by animals to our agricultu- 

 ral interests, and to awake new interest, if possible, in 

 their increase and welfare, I have spoken for cattle — for 

 our dumb companions — for the patientest servant of man 

 — for our right arm of power in tilling the earth — for the 

 poor man's comfort and support — for the rich man's lux- 

 ury — for the cottage pet and the living wealth of great 

 farms — for the abundance of "animated nature," in the 

 most important form in which it is bestowed upon man, 

 for his support, and for the enriching and beautifying of 

 the earth on which he lives. I have merely opened the 

 subject for your further exploration. It is not a trifling 

 matter in the topics belonging to agriculture. For al- 

 though to careless farming there is attached a low-bred 

 and starveling herd, still there are its superior relations, 

 occupying a high place in the economy of farming, and 

 holding in their capacious maws a large proportion of the 

 profits of the business and of the means by which it is 

 carried on. When we have learned how to select a good 



