AMERICAIC INSTITUTE. 499 



selves to the alterations of food, vicissitudes of climate, and 

 changed their constitutions through successive generations, until 

 their offspring to a great degree have inherited their resemblance, 

 properties and disposition. I would recommend the Connecticut 

 breeder not to propagate from an animal, however excellent he 

 may be, unless he know^s him to be well bred, and to have 

 descended from a race of ancestors that have through many gene- 

 rations possessed the desirable properties in the highest degree; 

 and as some males, for reasons not well understood, do not pro- 

 duce offspring possessing their own characteristics, they might 

 always be tried with young females, that their qualities may be 

 ascertained. I am convinced that breeders should by all means 

 avoid a great disparity between the sexes, as the greater the dif- 

 ference between the two, the greater will be the uncertainty of 

 symmetry, feeding qualities, resemblance and dispositions. 



The other plan is, to breed in the same linej w^hich is done by 

 selecting animals of the same variety, at the same time avoiding 

 very close afl&nities. You should never on any account breed 

 from parents having any defect, as it gradually increases in their 

 progeny, and finally materially depreciates the value of the stock. 

 Any departure from these principles by the stock breeder, will 

 lead to disappointment. 



It is indispensable that your cattle should have large lungs, as 

 the organs of digestion are subservient to them. This end may 

 be accomplished by selecting well-formed, large-sized females, 

 and crossing them wdth males somewhat smaller. There are 

 numerous minor matters to be attended to bv professional breeders 

 in selecting proper animals for breeding, that an inexperienced 

 person would not consider at all important. 



There is another matter connected with stock that I cannot pass 

 over without calling your attention to, and that is, the art of dis- 

 covering whether your animal is impregnated or not, as it often 

 happens that the sixth month arrives before even a practiced eye 

 can detect pregnancy in a cow or mare. It can be discovered at 

 any time thus : Oil the right hand, and pass it slowly up the 

 vagina to the os uteri, and if it is closed, forming a cup towards 

 the viscus, the animal is not impregnated; but if the cup form 



