102 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Makcb, 
as well as the memories of the inhabitants; hear unmis- 
takeable testimony to his practical good sense and dis¬ 
criminating judgment. 
His ambition through life, was to be a farmer. His 
discriminating observation, and philosophic reflection, 
admirably fitted him for this employment. But his fel¬ 
low citizens demanded of him something more. He was 
soon called to represent Massachusetts in the Senate of 
the United States, to which office he was twice elected. 
During this second part of the Revolution, commencing 
in 1812, he was Counsellor of State, and member of the 
Board of War. After this, he was twice chosen to rep¬ 
resent his own native district in Congress; and what may 
seem extraordinary in these-times, all these offices were 
bestowed upon him, without any solicitation on his part. 
True, they were not conferred unanimously , and while 
there exists a right and a wrong in the nature of things 
—entire unanimity is not to be expected. He was con¬ 
tent to do what he believed to be right • and so far, even 
his opponents always conceded—although their notions 
of right might not harmonise with his. The history of 
this eventful period will bear testimony, that few men at 
the seat of government, were looked upon with more re¬ 
spect, or listened to with more attention. Such was the 
confidence that he commanded, if a variance was found 
between Col. Pickering and the record, suspicion im¬ 
mediately arose that the record was wrong. Diffident 
of his own ability, and far from being dictatorial,—still, 
he never faltered when danger threatened. The more 
pressing the emergency, the firmer he stood. He was 
never afraid to do his duty, in the Senate or in the field. 
It has been said of him truly, that u on the farm, he 
was on a level with the farmer,—in the Senate, there 
was none his superior.” 
“ From childhood to old age,” says one who enjoyed 
the best possible opportunity to know him, “ tempe¬ 
rance, industry, sincerity, honor and truth, guided his 
conduct.” If it would strengthen the testimony, we 
could with confidence reaffirm the assertion. He was 
uniformly straight-forward and direct in all his move¬ 
ments. Sinister influences found no favor from him. 
No one who knew him would dare to intrude them.* 
(To be continued.) 
^'rngrtss nf 5lgrirultnrr. 
Improvement of Domestic Animals—-No. 3. 
Knowledge of the characteristics and properties of 
different breeds of animals, and of the means of improv¬ 
ing and adapting them to special purposes, has been 
greatly increased within a century, and more strikingly 
so within the last fifty years. Before Bakeweli com¬ 
menced his career, (about 1760,) the breeding of ani¬ 
mals on systematic rules, if not entirely unknown, was 
* The late Hon. John Randolph, of Roanoke, Va., said of him, 
when he had been speaking of his situation in the world, and descri¬ 
bing his efforts for the benefit of others, to the neglect of himself, and 
his eyes filled with tears and his voice faltered, at the mention of his 
comparative poverty ,— u I thought I would have given the riches of 
Dives himself, for his feelings at the moment; for his poverty was not 
the consequence of idleness, extravagance, or luxury—it was an hon¬ 
orable poverty, after a life spent in a series of laborious services, in 
securing the Independence, and establishing the Constitution of his 
country.’ ’ 
but little practiced in Europe or America. It is true, 
that the Arabians had, long before this, brought the 
horse to a high degree of perfection j but their rules of 
breeding, as well as the breed itself, were most scrupu¬ 
lously confined to their own people. Bakeweli, too, it 
may be said, observed- as much secrecy as possible y but 
his practice was in a great measure open to observation, 
and his numerous examples of improvement were the 
means of attracting attention from all parts of the civi¬ 
lized world. The result has been an astonishing advance 
in this department, although a knowledge of the princi¬ 
ples on which it has been made, is still, especially in this 
country, too much restricted. 
Most farmers are convinced that there is a great differ¬ 
ence in the constitutional properties of animals of the 
same s species. The idea that “ the breed goes into the 
mouth,” is nearly exploded. It has been clearly proved 
that some pigs, for example, are capable of making a 
much greater increase of weight than others of a differ¬ 
ent breed, from the same amount and quality of food j 
and the same has been demonstrated in regard to cattle- 
and sheep. It is apparent, also, that the peculiar pro¬ 
perties of different breeds of animals, adapt them to par¬ 
ticular climates, soils, and purposes. This is an impor¬ 
tant principle, on the proper observance of which the 
success of the farmer, in regard to his live-stock, great¬ 
ly depends • and it is now much better understood and ap¬ 
plied than in former years. It is known, for instance, that 
the breed which may fatten to the greatest extent on a 
given amount of food, when confined in a stall or pen,, 
or allowed the range of the richest pasture, may not 
have sufficient muscular strength and hardiness of con¬ 
stitution, to render it profitable under the effects of a 
severe climate, or where much exercise would be requir¬ 
ed. By knowing the properties of different breeds, the 
farmer is able to select such as are best adapted to his 
circumstances and wants. He sees that the leading pro¬ 
perty of one breed of cattle is to furnish the largest 
quantity of milk for the food consumed * that of anoth¬ 
er, the largest quantity of butter ; a third, the largest 
amount of fiesh and fat. He sees that no one breed com¬ 
bines all these properties in so high a degree as they are 
found in different breeds, and his selection must, there¬ 
fore, he made according to what is to be the primary ob¬ 
ject, and with due regard to the adaptation of the stock 
to the situation and climate. 
More correct ideas than have heretofore been enter¬ 
tained, now prevail in regard to the proper conformation 
of animals. It was early noticed by close observers, that 
there was a correspondence between the shape of ani¬ 
mals and their style of motion. The horse, the deer, 
and the greyhound, were seen to run with great celer¬ 
ity; and on comparison it was found that those animals 
which most nearly resembled them in form, approached 
nearest to them in speed. A knowledge of anatomy and 
of the principles of animal locomotion, has illustrated 
this; the motions of the animal machine are shown to 
be governed by ordinary mechanical laws. Understand¬ 
ing these principles and laws , no man chooses the cart or 
dray horse to run a race, or puts the deer-like race-horse 
to heavy draft. The difference in action results mainly 
from different anatomical structure, based on the well- 
known mechanical laws, that speed and power are anta- 
