LAW OF VARIATION. 39 



which the latter bears to the former, the greater will 

 be the profit to be realized from keeping them. 



There has been in New England generally a tendency 

 to choose animals of large size, as large as can be had 

 from any where, and if they possess symmetry and all 

 other good qualities commensurate with the size, and 

 if plenty of nutritious food can be supplied, there is an 

 advantage gained by keeping such, for it costs less, 

 other things being equal, to shelter and care for one 

 animal than for two. But our pastures and meadows 

 are not the richest to be found any where, and if we 

 select such as require, in order to give the profit which 

 they are capable of yielding, more or richer food than 

 our farms can supply, or than we have the means to 

 purchase, we must necessarily fail to reap as much 

 profit as we might by the selection of such as could be 

 easily fed upon home resources to the point of highest 

 profit. 



Whether the selection be of such as are either larger 

 or smaller than suit our situation, they wiU, and equally 

 in both cases, vary by degrees towards the fitting size 

 or type for the locality in which they are kept, but there 

 is this noteworthy difference, that if larger ones be 

 brought in, they will not only diminish, but deteriorate, 

 while if smaller be brought in, they will enlarge and 

 improve. 



