1858. 
THE CULTIVATOR 
173 
the surface crust, so as to cover the particles of manu- 
rial matter under the soil. 
The above modifications and additions to the me¬ 
thod originally proposed by Mr. Edgerton, are sub¬ 
mitted to your readers in the hope of their proving 
useful to some, and as a token of gratitude for the ma¬ 
ny useful hints and facts received through your col¬ 
umns, and of a wish to contribute a little to the gene¬ 
ral store of knowledge connected with rural affairs. 
Variation in Animals —“ Improved Breeds.”* 
The causes, conditions, laws and limits of Variation, 
both in animals and plants, include a wide field of study 
and investigation. It is one too, having an important 
economical bearing upon life and its pursuits in gen¬ 
eral, and most especially concerning the science and 
practice of Agriculture. The paper before us considers 
the subject in a plain and systematic way. The un- 
mistake able identity of species in every age, preclud¬ 
ing the possibility of change and confusion, is conclu¬ 
sively shown. The most ancient mummies of animals 
and specimens of plants found by Egyptian antiqua¬ 
rians, (more than 80 kinds.) do not differ from the same 
kinds now; “ the descriptions of animals as given by 
Aristotle are as true to nature as when he composed 
them, and the medical properties of plants are found 
to be the same when identified, as observed by the an¬ 
cients.” 
We have not space to follow the interesting remarks 
upon Varieties, but there are one or two of the con¬ 
clusions which they establish, that are of considerable 
value and importance. They are the following:— 
XII. Perfection of breed is a relative term, implying 
different organizations for different purposes. 
XIII. As tine breeds are introduced into this country 
more pains must be taken to protect and feed our cattle 
well and fittingly, or they will •‘degenerate” to the same 
stock. 
XIV. Fine varieties, when protected, do give a greater 
product from the same amount of food than the coarse. 
These deductions harmonize with the teachings of 
practice, and convey a lesson to the farmer as to the 
proper mode of improving his stock. The improve¬ 
ments which he desires to effect are such as will render 
his cattle, for example, more profitable, for the butcher, 
for the dairy, or for labor—or for all these purposes 
combined; but if each object is kept distinctly and 
separately in view , careful breeding from one genera¬ 
tion to another will at length enable him to accomplish 
it more perfectly than if no such particular end is aimed 
at. Other breeders have, however,already accomplished 
much in these directions; and the farmer, by the infu¬ 
sion into his stock of such “ improved blood ” as already 
comes the nearest to his purposes, economizes time and 
labor, and is at once and at comparatively little ex¬ 
pense, furnished with nearly what he wants. This is 
why we advocate the purchase of a bull of better breed¬ 
ing for the farmer’s ordinary use, instead of his dire- 
garding entirely, as is too often the case, the character 
which the sire is so certain to impress upon the progeny. 
Improved breeds owe their present degree of perfection, 
whatever it may be, only to the skill which has been ex¬ 
ercised in their selection, breeding and managementfor a 
number of generations and a long series of years. This 
*The Origin of Varieties in Animals and PJants; a 
Lecture before the Farmer’s Club of the Am. Instituto, 
by Dr. Waterbury. 
attention, we learn from the extract above, must be con¬ 
tinued if we wish to retain the valuable qualities that it 
has placed within our reach, and careful attention to the 
selection, the wants, the comfort and the health of one’s 
stock is thus shown to be not only the dictate of econo¬ 
my for the time being, but a matter of importance in 
the future, from the influence it exerts on the progeny 
as well as on the parent. Improvements may be bred 
out as fast or faster than they can be bred in. Until 
the average of care which our farm stock now receives, 
becomes much greater, it may be inexpedient to advise 
the maintenance of a herd or flock of pure improved 
blood for ordinary farm purposes; but, by beginning 
with grades—employing the services of an improv¬ 
ed male to engraft upon “native” stock, and by de¬ 
grees acquiring the habit of paying closer attention to 
their necessities and comforts, not only will our cattle 
and sheep be gradually and fundamentally bettered, 
but the farmer will be preparing to avail himself 
of breeds already rendered capable of giving with pro¬ 
per attention, the greatest product for a specified 
amount of food; and animals bred to this point, will 
then come into his hands to be improved, not to be de¬ 
teriorated. 
That the common sense of mankind agrees with these 
views, is shown by the fact that all efforts in every 
age, to better the stock of any kind or country, have 
been awarded the highest praise. Govermental breed¬ 
ing farms, in the absolute monarchies of Europe, do 
what it is left for private enterprise to do among us, 
and what is in England nursed and aided by the at¬ 
tention which the wealthiest and highest ranks, from 
Prince Albert down, spend so much time and labor to 
encourage. In promoting, where we properly can, the 
interests of breeders of fine stock, we do so in so far 
as we consider them identical with those of the farmer 
himself, and not a step farther. And the complaint 
which farmers sometimes make against Agricultural 
Journals and Societies, that they are mere organs of 
wealthy breeders, because it is becoming fashionable 
for rich men to spend their money in this way—is only 
justified when the limit above specified is passed over 
—when investment becomes mere speculation, and the 
advocates of any particular breed lose sight of their 
first object, that of benefitting Agriculture, in the secon¬ 
dary one of filling their pockets. Should this time come, 
we shall be as ready to denounce mercenary projects and 
misstatements on the part of breeders, as we now are 
to encourage a taste for Agricultural pursuits and im¬ 
provements among the wealthy, instead of less benefi¬ 
cial if not absolutely hurtful ways of money-spending; 
to rejoice in the extension of popular sentiment in 
favor of all rural improvement, and to commend en¬ 
terprise wherever it is judiciously directed. 
-- 
Grinding Feed. —“If a machine was invented to 
grind hay,” says the London Farmer’s Magazine, 
“the ground article would approximate in value to un- 
ground oats in producing fat and muscle.” Chopping 
hay and stalks is the process that comes nearest to 
grinding, and relieves the animal of just so much labor 
as it takes to do it. Twenty-five pounds of dry hay a 
day is a good deal of work for the muscles of one pair 
of jaws, if they have the whole burden of its reduction 
to small bits and powder; this labor affects the whole 
system, like other labor, retarding the animal’s growth 
and rendering more food necessary to supply the waste 
of its tissues. The same reasoning applies to grind¬ 
ing other kinds of feed for stock. 
