66 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



breeds very rapidly. Thus the restriction of breeds to small numbers 

 infers the " survival of the fittest," and is indicative rather of agricult- 

 ural progress than the reverse. For the future it may be forecast that 

 the European breeds of cattle, sheep, and pigs will notably diminish in 

 numbers and correspondingly improve in value. 



The paragraph referring to imported breeds producing in their new 

 homes, when suitably located and managed, offspring superior to that 

 produced in their original homes can only be accepted with reserve, as 

 although numerous instances of great breeding successes are established 

 in the records of the United States, that result maybe attributed to the 

 fact of the imported cattle and pigs being generally picked specimens, 

 selected for their excellence, whereby their progeny are put out of com- 

 parison with the more ordinary stock from which specimens are common- 

 ly seen at the shows of the United Kingdom. 



I am advised by eminent authorities that however grand may be the 

 American results attained in the case of Jersey cattle &c., yet it is 

 thought to be advisable to replenish stock by returning to the original 

 homes of the breeds, whilst I note also in a report relative to Shorthorns 

 from our consul at Leeds, that buyers are recommended to revisit the 

 Teeswater districts, where the grand old Durham stock, renowned for its 

 size, good constitution, and splendid milk-bag, exists in large numbers, 

 and from which the refined, improved Shorthorn has been carefully 

 bred. 



So also in respect to French breeds I feel assured there is a wide scope 

 for importation of superior cattle from their native districts, from which, 

 the best specimens being selected, itmay be expected the American con- 

 tinent will soon produce a higher general level of excellence in such 

 new breeds than could be found in France. Besides the Norman, Brit- 

 tany, Flemish, and Charolaise breeds, there are quite half a dozen 

 French breeds of cattle which probably might be advantageously intro- 

 duced into the United States. 



Your attention is called to inclosure " Notes on French Live Stock," 

 from the official French catalogues of the Paris Exhibition of 1878, 

 with illustrations added which do not appear in the original catalogues ; 

 also to the critical report of the last Paris cattle-show (February, 1883), 

 written by Mr. Kains- Jackson and published in the London Times and 

 the Field (inclosure 2),* which gives the most complete description 

 ever published here. 



PUBLICATIONS CONCERNING BRITISH CATTLE. 



The detailed information sought as to the costs and methods of ex- 

 portation, the critical descriptions of the several breeds, their relative 

 numbers and relative production for n*eat or milk would require, even 

 in a most condensed form, a volume of several hundred pages. Such a 

 .work would not be difficult to compile from existing materials and from 

 the special supplementary details now obtained, especially as in recent 

 years great activity has been shown in Great Britain and Ireland in 

 supplying authentic matter for the compilation of stud and herd books. 



The Suffolk Stud-Book, the Carthorse Stud-Book, and the Jersey 

 Herd-Book have lately appeared, and now the Devon Herd-Book, the 

 Cleveland Bay Stud-Book, the Hackney Stud-Book, the Pig-Breeder's 

 Stud-Book, and other similar works are in course of preparation. 



The Shorthorn, Hereford, Scotch, Polled, Eed Polled Ayrshire, and 

 Welsh Black Cattle Herd-Books have been established for several years, 



*See Supplement.- 



