PREFACE. Vll 



other hand, by rearing an inferior breed in situations 

 where one of greater value could be maintained, we 

 deprive ourselves of the profit which the natural or 

 acquired advantages of our situation present. 



An error of another kind is the subject of constant 

 observation, the result likewise of imperfect knowledge 

 of the distinctive characters of breeds. For the pro- 

 curing of a breed adapted to the situation in which it 

 is to be reared, two general methods may be pursued ; 

 either a new breed may be substituted for that which 

 exists, or the old one may have its characters modified 

 or changed by crossing with other races. There are 

 many cases in which scarcely an error can be commit- 

 ted in our practice in these respects, provided we resort 

 to a really superior race; but there are many other 

 cases in which a change of this kind may be injurious, 

 or attended with doubtful benefit. Animals become 

 gradually adapted to the conditions in which they are 

 placed, 'and many breeds have accordingly become ad- 

 mirably suited to the physical state of the country in 

 which they have been naturalized. Thus, the West 

 Highland Breed of cattle has become suited to a humid 

 climate and a country of mountains ; the beautiful 

 breed of North Devon, to a country of lower altitude 

 and milder climate. In these, and many cases more, 

 an intermixture of stranger blood might destroy the 

 characters which time had imprinted on the stock, and 

 produce a progeny inferior in useful properties to either 

 of the parent races. Not only have individual breeders 



