2 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF 



instituted. If this meant that the puhlic 

 interest in the matter had been so effectually- 

 kindled that it was unlikely again to languish, 

 the remark is intelligible ; but, if it implied 

 that perfection in the type of agricultural 

 stock had been already attained by it, such 

 an opinion must be received to-day with 

 sheer amaze, since it is in the highest degree 

 improbable that the prize animals of that 

 date would be looked at by modern judges 

 beside the highly developed specimens which 

 are the result of nearly a hundred years of 

 further systematic breeding. Whether as 

 great an improvement is to be expected 

 in the future as has been achieved in the 

 past is another thing ; only, let us beware 

 lest the desire to excel in the show ring 

 lead us in a wrong direction — viz., towards 

 the production of a costly exotic, rather 

 than the multiplication of the types of 

 animals best suited to the various purposes 

 for which our various kinds of stock are 



