REASONS FOR KEEPING THE BEST BREEDS OF STOCK. 
277 
woody portions,) of flax. By giving a thick 
covering of these to the ground around the trees, 
all the benefits of moisture are secured. There 
is a decided advantage in the use of this mate¬ 
rial, as it does not require to be raked off like 
hay and straw, on the approach of cold weather, 
to avoid harboring field mice or other vermin, 
which frequently commit great ravages among 
the trees during winter, when they have a hid¬ 
ing place near. The cutting of the hay or straw 
in a cutting machine, would prepare it equally 
well for this purpose, as the shives of flax. Tan 
bark, or sawdust are also useful; but it is bet¬ 
ter to have the latter discolored, so as to ap¬ 
proach a dark brown. This color facilitates the 
radiation of heat, and the consequent formation 
of dews, both of which circumstances largely 
augment production. 
-- 
REASONS FOR KEEPING- THE BEST BREEDS OF 
STOCK. 
Many reasons might be urged why farmers 
should keep only the best breeds of stock. 
While it is true that an abundance of food will 
apparently improve any breed, or at least hide 
their deformities, it is also true that the same 
food, fed to the same varieties of animals, though 
of different breeds, will contribute both to the 
beauty of the animal, and interest of the owner. 
Early maturity and a disposition to take on 
fat are intimately connected with the shape of 
the animal. But few persons have the perse¬ 
verance and discrimination to make a Bakewell; 
yet, scarcely a man can be found, who, if called 
upon to decide between two animals of differ¬ 
ent organisation, but will instinctively decide in 
favor of the round-barrelled, small-boned, deep- 
chested, in preference to the slab-sided, coarse¬ 
haired, rough-boned, narrow-chested, animals; 
and yet, with our certain knowledge of these 
facts, how few are there amongst us who make a 
reasonable application of the knowledge they pos¬ 
sess. And if any one is found possessing a spirit 
of improvement, how often is it the case that he 
is beset, with obstacles, and his efforts counter¬ 
acted on every side. At all times through the sum¬ 
mer, may be seen herds of cattle, hogs, &c., ram¬ 
bling in every direction, turned out by their 
owners to curse community, in their daily task 
of highway robbery and usurpation. 
Suppose one of our citizens, at great cost, in¬ 
troduces a superior Durham bull. If he is per¬ 
mitted to pasture in fields adjoining the highway, 
to prevent evil associations is impossible, fences 
will be broken down; he is led off by these 
mauraders, and however docile by constitution 
he may be, these evil associations will soon 
make him ungovernable. The owner is soon 
compelled to fit him for the shambles. In the 
Empire State, the case supposed may not apply, 
but in Ohio, this is no fancy sketch, and not¬ 
withstanding the public may be benefited by 
the introduction of the bull, in stamping his 
character or good points in his offspring, in the 
stock of the neighborhood, the owner’s chagrin, 
disappointment, and loss of money have been 
the result. But how can this be remedied ? I 
answer by disseminating the right kind of 
knowledge among the people. If every farmer 
could be induced to become a subscriber, and a 
reader of the American Agriculturist, The Amer¬ 
ican Farmer, The Plow, Loom, and Anvil, The 
Ohio Cultivator, or any one of these, how soon 
would the aspect of these things be changed. 
The slumbering faculties would be aroused, a 
spirit of emulation in husbandry, in general, and 
an improvement in breeds of farm stock, in par¬ 
ticular, would pave the way for the passage of 
a law prohibiting animals from running at large. 
And then, how quickly would our fields be dot¬ 
ted over with beautiful square-formed Dur¬ 
ham cows! How soon would our long-nosed, 
razor-backed, slab-sided alligator land pikes, 
which some people call “hogs,” give place to 
the Chinese, or some other decent breed of 
swine! 
The evils resulting to the community from 
bad breeds of hogs, extend much further than 
is generally supposed. Almost every person, at 
one time or another, has had ocular demonstra¬ 
tion of the hard feelings, heart tearings, open 
quarrels, and expensive lawsuits, engendered by 
the instrumentality of these trespassers, which 
husk our corn, and dig our potatoes for nothing; 
and, like the prince of darkness, are always 
“roaming about seeking what they may de¬ 
vour.” But these evils, great as they may be, 
are not to be compared to the deleterious effects 
they have upon mankind. Man is a physiolog¬ 
ical being, and his physiological existence de¬ 
pends upon certain important principles or laws. 
Every one knows that man is an eating being. 
Did he cease to eat, he would soon cease to live. 
The food eaten is received into the stomach. 
This, in the process of digestion, is formed into 
chyle, and this, by the action of the oxygen of 
the atmosphere, inhaled by the lungs, is formed 
into blood; and from this blood is formed the 
bones, the sinews, the muscles, and tendons of 
the human frame. Consequently, whatever is 
eaten by man, and not thrown off as extraneous 
matter, becomes assimilated into the system, and 
becomes interwoven into the very texture and 
existence of man himself. Is it not, therefore, 
as clear as demonstration can make it, that if 
a man were fed exclusively for a sufficient length 
of time, on long-nosed alligators, or land pikes, 
he would eventually, so far as animal physiol¬ 
ogy is concerned, become “ bone of their bone and 
flesh of their flesh 1” He would be all hog, ex¬ 
cept the bristles. And when we consider the 
very intimate connection between mind and 
matter, is it not equally clear that this animal 
system, composed in whole or in part, of swine, 
will have a powerful influence in the formation 
of the character of the man ? That the animal 
propensities will become stimulated, and will 
usurp the throne, and when reason is thus sub¬ 
jugated, the man is transformed from being a 
good member of civil society, to a complete Ish-, 
maelite, whose hand will be against every man, 
and every man’s hand against him. I desire no 
better index to the general character of a neigh¬ 
bor, for benevolence, peace, love, and good will, 
or their opposites, than the breed and appear 
ance of the hogs, reared and eaten by the peo- 
