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PART II. ZOOLOGICAL. 



Sect. I. Quadrupeds. 



It may be observed of animals, as in the case of weeds, 

 that it must not be supposed that they are useless productions, 

 because an abundance of them proves injurious to the specific 

 object of the farmer. Insects- and worms afford, by the de- 

 composition of their dead bodies, a very fertilizing ingredient 

 in the composition of soils, and the absence or presence of 

 decayed animal and vegetable matters characterizes the 

 fertility or barrenness of the different earthy formations. 

 Many of the quadrupeds afford a most agreeable and delicate 

 food, and several of the winged creation have been long used 

 in affording; a nutritious sustenance to the human race. Some 

 animals of both kinds are of no immediate application, yet 

 they may answer some purpose that has escaped our obser- 

 vation. 



It seems reasonable to destroy those that appear the least 

 useful, and to encourage the propagation of the others that are 

 known to be productive of some benefit. And this principle is 

 doubly enforced by the knowledge that the useless ones destroy 

 the useful, according to the invariable law of nature, that the 

 stronger animals hve by devouring the weaker. And it so 

 happens, that the weaker ones are the most useful. 



As the produce of the earth raised at the cost of the farmer, 

 maintains all the " ferse naturse," either directly or indirectly, 

 it follows that he must have the management and profit that 

 can arise from the value of the useful animals in the same way 

 as the other animals of the farm, for which he pays the usu- 

 fructuary value. By this arrangement, no farmer would 



