29 



While advocating the use of pure bred males, we would emphati- 

 cally denounce the idea that all animals of a particular breed are of 

 equal merit, or that a herd-book pedigree is of itself a satisfactory 

 proof of a bull's fitness to perpetuate his race. The best systems 

 are liable to abuse ; and many a miserable rickety calf is raised be- 

 cause it is thorough bred, which, if only a grade, would meet with a 

 fate more in accordance with its deserts and the interests of the 

 community. 



Such animals are constantly to be found in the hands of char- 

 acterless jobbers and inexperienced fanciers. Nobody keeps them 

 long, but as they will usually command a price somewhat above* their 

 value for beef, they are passed from hand to hand, to multiply their 

 infirmities, and to bring disgrace on the breed to which they pre- 

 tend to belong. 



Another evil resulting from the breeding of pure bred cattle for 

 sale, is the practice of letting the calf suck its dam for a shorter or 

 longer period, after which, the cow is suffered to dry up, to keep her 

 in show condition, and for the benefit of the succeeding calf. This 

 inevitably diminishes the milking capacity of any cow, and if per- 

 severed in must reduce even the best milking race to the normal 

 condition of only giving sufficient milk for the temporary nourish- 

 ment of its ofispring. In selecting stock for milking purposes, it 

 is therefore important to consider, not only the breed, but the indi- 

 vidual quahties of the animals and their immediate ancestors, and 

 also the treatment to which they, respectively, have been subjected, 

 as far back as this can be ascertained. 



This, in a measure accounts for the very different prices which 

 animals, apparently of equal merit, command, according to the 

 skill and reputation of their owners. One man's n£>me is a guaran- 

 tee of a long succession of the best blood, without blemish or im- 

 perfection ; while another stamps every animal which he owns as 

 defective in quahty, or descent, or both. 



Mr. Augustus Whitman, of Fitchbui'g, furnishes a fitting illus- 

 tration of the former class of breeders ; and the energy and system 

 which he brings to bear on aU his undertakings, well deserve admir- 

 ation and emulation. Notwithstanding that his movements are im- 

 peded by severe chronic lameness, he ably superintends a very large 

 manufacturing business ; and for relaxation devotes an amount of 

 thought and attention to the breeding of improved stock which 

 would in itself severely task the powers of a mind less vigorous or 

 less evenly balanced. Unlike the man who had such a big pilo of 



