498 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



nomy being endowed with the power of accommodation, imme- 

 diately adapts itself to the situation in which we place it. This 

 law is not confined to animals alone, it pervades the entire face 

 of nature, combining all in one harmonious whole, including 

 seeds as well as domestic creatures. Natural processes are con- 

 trolled by the influence and art of man; all that is necessary is 

 to give the proper direction to his efforts. 



Very different modes have been pursued in the improvement of 

 live stock, which may be comprehended under one of the follow- 

 ing theories, each of them having in turn been adhered to most per- 

 tinaciously. The first, was the in and in system. The second, 

 breeding from individuals of two different offsprings, called cross 

 breeding. And the third, breeding from animals of the same 

 variety, but of different parentage, called breeding in the line. 

 There are many examples of the good eflect of cross breeding in 

 the improved herds of swine, horses and cattle in England and 

 America, but this may be carried so far as to produce a degene- 

 rate offspring, from the want of that nice care and circumspection 

 necessary to suit the animals to the nature of the desired improve- 

 ment. I have known injury often to accrue instead of benefit, 

 by the random method adopted by breeders, of uniting animals 

 perfectly dissimilar in their form, size and quality. When it was 

 the fashion here to drive very large horses, mares were put to 

 large studs, which produced an inferior race of animals, with 

 long legs, lank bodies and weak constitutions. If there are any 

 bad qualities in the cross, they are engrafted in the progeny of 

 the original stock, where they remain, if continued in the same 

 soil, for generations. 



No man should attempt to improve the animals of a country 

 unless he is willing to incur expense, and operate with great 

 caution, as a mistake in practice will inevitably cause irreparable 

 injury, if extensively pursued. To attempt to improve the Devon 

 cattle in Connecticut, where they have continued for two centu- 

 ries, and formed constitutions perfectly adapted to the food and 

 climate of that ^tate, by an injudicious cross with some tender 

 foreign herd, would most assuredly produce the injury above 

 alluded to. These animals have gradually accommodated them- 



