412 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



ing with indifference the question of developing the animal 

 when bred. 



It is unfortunate that Bakewell, with all his philosophical 

 ideas upon breeding and growing animals, was not large- 

 hearted and philanthropic enough to desire that his im- 

 provements should be perpetuated for the % benefit of his 

 countrymen. But so far from this, he neither put pen to 

 paper, nor did he disclose his system in conversation with 

 his most intimate friends. They could see the result of 

 his work, and from this infer his system, but he kept his 

 methods and the details of his experiments wholly to him- 

 self. Perhaps we should not judge him harshly because 

 his countrymen, who have conjectured as to his system 

 and lauded the result, have never criticised his selfish 

 secretiveness, but treated it as a natural thing to expect. 

 This grows out of the different social education of the 

 people of England and the United States. Here a citizen 

 feels that he owes something to the public welfare, and 

 takes a pride in promoting it; but the hereditary govern- 

 ment appears to prevent the development of public spirit, 

 and leaves the individual to think only of his private 

 welfare. 



A thorough exposition of Bakewell's practical system, 

 and the careful details of all his experiments, would have 

 been worth millions to his countrymen, as well as to the 

 breeders of other countries. But the world must be con- 

 tent with the great good that has resulted from the 

 distribution of the improved Leicester sheep, and the 

 stimulus given by these to the improvement of other 

 breeds. 



We desire to show, somewhat in detail, the application 

 of sheep husbandry to the wants of agriculture in our 

 oldest settled States. Here, under the principles discussed, 

 the sheep will bring the recuperation of the soil, renew its 

 capacity for grain crops, and bring back the old-time thrift 



