orcing_ system, diminish the activity of the lacteal
secretion, and increase the tendency to fatness in the races of the
bovine tribe. The Shorthorns were at one time famous for their milking
capabilities, but latterly their galactophoric reputation has greatly
declined. Still I am disposed to believe, that if some of those animals
were placed under conditions favorable to the improvement of dairy
stock, herds of Shorthorn milch cows could be obtained which would vie
in their own line with the famous fat-disposed oxen of the same breed.

In sheep the tendency to early maturity and to fatten is greatly
influenced by the breed. The Leicester, even when kept on inferior
pasture, fattens so rapidly that in eighteen months it is fit for the
butcher; whilst the Merino, though supplied with excellent herbage, must
be preserved for nearly four years before it is ready for the shambles.
The crossing of good herds has resulted in the development of numerous
varieties, all remarkable for their aptitude to fatten and to arrive
early at maturity. The Leicester--itself supposed to be a cross--has
greatly improved the Lincoln, and the Hampshire and Southdown have
produced an excellent cross. Of course, each breed and cross has its
admirers; indeed, the differences of opinion which prevail in relation
to the relative merits of the Lincoln and the Leicester--the Southdown
and the Shropshiredown--the Dorset and the Somerset--occasionally
culminate into newspaper controversies of an exceedingly ascerb
character. There is no doubt but that particular breeds of sheep
thrive in localities and under conditions which are inimical to other
varieties; but still it is equally evident that, _caeteris paribus_, one
kind of sheep will store up in its increase a larger proportion of its
food than another kind, and will arrive earlier at maturity. It is the
knowledge of this fact which has led to the great estimation in which
are held some half-dozen out of the numerous breeds and cross-breeds
of that animal. In 1861 an interesting experiment was made by the
Parlington Farmers' Club with the object of testing the relative merits
of several varieties of sheep. The results are shown in the tables:--

TABLE I.

----------------+------------------------------------+-----------------------
| Live Weight of Six Wethers |Weights gained
| when Shorn, 26th February, 1862. |during the time of