THE COW TEIBES 75 



been developed within limited geographical ranges 

 largely because there has been so little communi- 

 cation between different sections. It has been said 

 that almost every English shire had its own pe- 

 culiar breed. This could never have occurred in 

 America where there is a great inter-state cattle 

 trade which insures a very general distribution 

 and exchange of breed types over the entire coun- 

 try. 



There is nothing occult or mysterious about the 

 establishment of a brand new breed of any of our 

 domestic animals. Some one may have in mind 

 certain functions or form or more likely merely 

 fanciful characters or color not possessed by any 

 breed and which he thinks are worth perpetuating. 

 Probably he will own or have in mind certain in- 

 dividuals that approximate the desired type. Our 

 farm animals are rather plastic anyway, much 

 more so than the wild forms. A few generations 

 of careful selection and mating together with the 

 culling out of those specimens that fail to be in 

 line with the desired forms, will suffice to give 

 them a certain uniformity and fixity of type. He 

 may then interest some other men in the same proj- 

 ect, incorporate as an association or club, adopt 

 a set of rules and standards, appoint a secretary 

 to be the official recorder of data relative to pedi- 

 grees and other matters, begin the publication of a 

 herd-book, and a new breed is launched on the 

 world. If in addition to this, those interested can 



