120 PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 



females, obtain stock purely of kind desired, yet in 

 several generations, if proper care be given in the selec- 

 tion of males, that each one be such as to retain and 

 improve upon the points gained by his predecessor, the 

 stock for most practical purposes will be as good as if 

 thorough-bred. Were this plan generally adopted, and 

 a system of letting or exchange of males established, 

 the cost might be brought within the means of most 

 persons, and the advantages which would accrue would 

 be almost beyond belief. 



The writer on Cattle in the Library of Useful Knowl- 

 edge well remarks : — " At the outset of his career, the 

 farmer should have a clear and determined conception 

 of the object that he wishes to accomplish. He should 

 consider the nature of his farm ; the quality, abundance 

 or deficiency of his pasturage, the character of the soil, 

 the seasons of the year when he will have plenty or 

 deficiency of food, the locality of his farm, the market 

 to which he has access and the produce which can be 

 disposed of with greatest profit, and these things will 

 at once point to him the breed he should be solicitous 

 to obtain. The man of wealth and patriotism may have 

 more extensive views, and nobly look to the general 

 improvement of cattle ; but the farmer, with his limited 

 means and with the claims that press upon him, regards 

 his cattle as a valuable portion of his own little prop- 



