ts gained by his predecessor, the stock for most
practical purposes will be as good as if thorough-bred. Were this plan
generally adopted, and a system of letting or exchange of males
established, the cost might be brought within the means of most
persons, and the advantages which would accrue would be almost beyond
belief.

The writer on Cattle in the Library of Useful Knowledge well
remarks:--"At the outset of his career, the farmer should have a clear
and determined conception of the object that he wishes to accomplish.
He should consider the nature of his farm; the quality, abundance or
deficiency of his pasturage, the character of the soil, the seasons of
the year when he will have plenty or deficiency of food, the locality
of his farm, the market to which he has access and the produce which
can be disposed of with greatest profit, and these things will at once
point to him the breed he should be solicitous to obtain. The man of
wealth and patriotism may have more extensive views, and nobly look to
the general improvement of cattle; but the farmer, with his limited
means and with the claims that press upon him, regards his cattle as a
valuable portion of his own little property, and on which every thing
should appear to be in natural keeping, and be turned to the best
advantage. The best beast for him is that which suits his farm the
best, and with a view to this, he studies, or ought to study, the
points and qualities of his own cattle, and those of others. The
dairyman will regard the quantity of milk--the quality--its value for
the production of butter and cheese--the time that the cow continues
in milk--the character of the breed for quietness, or as being good
nurses--the predisposition to garget or other disease, or dropping
after calving--the natural tendency to turn every thing to
nutriment--the ease with which she is fattened when given up as a
milker, and the proportion of food requisite to keep her in full milk
or to fatten her when dry. The grazier will consider the kind of beast
which his land will bear--the kind of meat most in demand in his
neighborhood--the early maturity--the quickness of fattening at any
age--the quality of the meat--the parts on which the flesh and fat are
principally laid--and more than all the hardihood and the adaptation
to the climate and soil.

In order to obtain these valuable properties the good farmer will make
himself perfectly master of the characters and qualities of