90 
THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 
ful benefit. Animals become gradually adapted 
to the conditions in which they are placed, and 
many breeds have accordingly become admi- 
rably suited to the physical state of the coun- 
try in which they have been naturalized. 
Thus, the West Highland breed of cattle has 
become suited to a humid climate, and a coun- 
try of mountains ; the beautiful breed of North 
Devon, to a country of lower altitude, and 
milder climate. In these, and many cases 
more, an intermixture of stranger blood might 
destroy the characters which time had im- 
printed on the stock, and produce a progeny 
inferior in useful properties to either of the 
parent races. Not only have individual 
breeders erred in the application of this kind 
of crossing to practice in particular cases, but 
several entire breeds have been lost, which 
ought to have been preserved. There are 
many breeds, indeed, so defective in them- 
selves, that time and capital would have been 
lost in endeavouring to cultivate them ; but 
not a few, as will be seen in the sequel, might 
have been improved to the degree required, 
by mere selection of parents, and attention to 
the known principles of breeding. 
"Not only do animals become adapted in con- 
stitution, temperament, and habits, to the situa- 
tions in which they have been naturalized, 
but characters communicated by art, become 
permanent by continued reproduction. Thus, 
in the case of the dairy breed of Ayrshire, 
by breeding from females that possess the 
property of yielding a large quantity of milk, 
a peculiar breed has been at length formed, 
exceedingly well suited to the purposes of the 
dairy, and at the same time hardy and fitted 
to subsist on ordinary food. Now, such a 
breed might be injured, and not improved, by 
crossing even with a race superior to itself in 
many properties. Thus, a cross with the 
Durham or Hereford breeds, would produce 
animals of larger size, and superior fattening 
properties, to the native race; but even in 
these properties, the progeny would be infe- 
rior to either the Hereford; or the Durhams, 
and inferior, as a hardy race of dairy cattle, 
to the Ayrshire breed itself. Hence, the 
crossing of a breed of cattle with a race appa- 
rently superior, will not always be attended 
with ultimate good ; and caution and know- 
ledge of the end to be arrived at are required 
even in the cases where the good seems most 
easily attained." — Pp. vii. — ix. 
All of which, if the names of the animals 
were altered to plants, would be as appropriate 
as if written for them ; because, it is only by 
observing the qualities, of most value, that 
we can appreciate the benefits of crossing. 
Thus, the hardy Rhododendrons are very 
common in appearance, compared with those 
from warmer climates ; and practice has taught 
us that the constitution of the plant raised 
from seed takes mostly after the female ; so 
that, the only waj' to procure handsome flowers 
on the hardy kind, is to fertilize the hardy 
plant which is to bear the seed with the tender 
one, which may impart richness of flower, 
and thus obtain plants adapted to their situa- 
tion with a distinct improvement. But the 
author gives us a further lesson in his Intro- 
ductory Observations, and it applies as much 
to crops as to animals. He says — 
" Another error of a different kind, but pro- 
ceeding likewise from imperfect knowledge of 
the relative value of breeds, prevails to a great 
extent. Breeds, in themselves bad, are obsti- 
nately retained in districts fitted to support 
superior races. In every part of the kingdom, 
we see breeds which are unworthy of being 
preserved, while the easiest means are at the 
command of the farmer of supplying their 
place by others suited to the locality. Thus, 
over the greater part of Wales, there are races 
of wild diminutive sheep, which, in economical 
value, can bear no comparison with those 
which could be supplied from other places. 
In Kerry, and other mountainous districts, 
stretching along the western coast of Ireland, 
in place of such sheep as the country could 
maintain, are to be seen assemblages of animals 
of the size of dogs, and as wild as antelopes, 
neither having wool fitted to the manufactures 
of the country, nor being capable of fattening 
to any size. Even in the heart of Yorkshire, 
as we shall see in the sequel, a breed of sheep 
is preserved, covering a considerable tract of 
country, which, from its coarseness of form, 
and inaptitude to fatten, ranks in the lowest 
class of cultivated sheep in England ; and in 
every part of the kingdom, we may see exam- 
ples of the vast public and private loss which 
results from unacquaintance with the relative 
value, and economical uses of the different 
breeds of our domesticated animals." — Pp. ix.x. 
And now comes a lesson for all who have 
anything to do with land, many of which know 
not its value, and still more form no adequate 
idea of its importance. It should be read and 
remembered : — 
" To remove the causes of mistaken prac- 
tice, in a branch of industry so important to 
the interest of producers and consumers, may 
be regarded as matter of national interest. 
From the produce of live-stock in this country, 
a large part of the subsistence of the people, 
of the materials of our manufactures, of the 
profits of the farmer, and of the revenue of 
the landholder, is derived. In many parts of 
the kingdom, tillage is difficult, or imprac- 
ticable, and the only valuable production is 
