64 



bulls, in this county, which may in part as well apply to 

 other animals. 



At one time, a question of great difficulty, which occasion- 

 ed much discussion and antagonism among agricultural 

 writers, was this, " whether the breed of live stock be sus^ 

 ceptible of the greatest improvement, from properties con- 

 spicuous in the male, or from those conspicuous in the 

 female parent ? " Prize essays have been written, and the 

 subject has been most thoroughly discussed, until the unan- 

 imous verdict of both practical and scientific observers now 

 is, that, other things being equal, the male has far more in- 

 fluence than the female in fixing the characteristics of the 

 progeny. The greatly superior value which the Bedouin 

 of the Desert, places upon his mare, over his horse, has 

 been frequently and triumphandy cited in opposition to this 

 theory. But Abd-el-Kader in his reply to General Dau- 

 mas, Avho has just published a work entitled " The Horse 

 of the Desert," puts that matter at rest most naturally and 

 conclusively. The Arab Chief in reply to the French Gen- 

 eral, says " You ask me why, if the ofl'spring partakes more 

 of the male than of the female parent, the mares, notwith- 

 standing, sell for higher prices than the horses. The reason 

 is this ; he who owns or purchases a mare, hopes that all 

 the while he is making use of her, he will obtain from her a 

 numerous progeny, — but he who ow^ns or buys a horse 

 derives from it no other benefit than its services for the sad- 

 dle, as the Arabs never take money for the use of their 

 horses, but lend them gratuitously. 



This fact being established, every man sees and will ad- 

 mit, that in the improvement of our cattle, the bull must per- 

 form the most important part. There is no doubt of the 

 truth of the theory, and being true, how does the practice 

 of our farmers, in the main conform to it ? Why, with some 

 exceptions, but generally, the calf that comes late in the 

 season, when veal is at the lowest, and it is so diminutive in 



