INTRODUCTION. 15 



tically upon this most important subject, he finds only 

 fragmentary hints here and there in books and agricultural 

 journals. He will find books upon breeds of cattle, horses, 

 sheep and swine books upon the philosophy of breeding 

 but upon the philosophy and practice of feeding animals 

 he will find nothing complete, even for a single class of 

 animals. It is true we may find a very good exposition of 

 the German experiments in Dr. Armsby's Manual of Cattle 

 Feeding, but these experiments are not sufficiently broad 

 to cover the whole field, and have not yet been practically 

 adapted to our needs. They are well worthy of our careful 

 study, and we shall endeavor to show the extent of their 

 application to American cattle feeding. 



As all farmers, from time immemorial, have been in the 

 habit of feeding more or less animals, it has been taken 

 for granted that this knowledge came by instinct, and 

 required no study to obtain. When a superior animal was 

 produced, an explanation was always sought in the breed 

 it was always charged to the blood. When anything is 

 now said concerning the management of those famous 

 breeders who developed the Long-horns and the Short-horns 

 from the inferior animals they began with, their skill and 

 genius in selecting the points to be improved and the 

 animals to be coupled, representing these in greatest per- 

 fection, are always dwelt upon with the highest admiration. 

 Little else is mentioned. They forget the grand requisite 

 of success, without which these celebrated breeders would 

 have been little distinguished above their neighboring 

 farmers, and that is feeding. It may be laid down as an 

 axiom, that breeding alone can produce nothing beyond 

 what is inherent in the animals coupled and their an- 

 cestors. Something never comes from nothing. It is food 

 and management that makes a beautiful specimen of any 

 strain of blood. A skijlful feeder may often grow a more 

 perfect individual animal out of a three-quarter blood 



