uence to the practical dairyman.

NATIVE CATTLE.

The foregoing comprise the pure-bred races in America; for, though other
and well-established breeds--like the Galloways, the long horns, the
Spanish, and others--have, at times, been imported, and have had some
influence on our American stock, yet they have not been kept distinct to
such an extent as to become the prevailing stock of any particular
section.

A large proportion, however--by far the largest proportion, indeed--of
the cattle known among us cannot be included under any of the races to
which allusion has been made; and to the consideration of this class the
present article is devoted.

The term "breed"--as was set forth in the author's treatise, "The Horse
and his Diseases"--when properly understood, applies only to animals of
the same species, possessing, besides the general characteristics of
that species, other characteristics peculiar to themselves, which they
owe to the influence of soil, climate, nourishment, and the habits of
life to which they are subjected, and which they transmit with certainty
to their progeny. The characteristics of certain breeds or families are
so well marked, that, if an individual supposed to belong to any one of
them were to produce an offspring not possessing them, or possessing
them only in part, with others not belonging to the breed, it would be
just ground for suspecting a want of purity of bloods.

In this view, no grade animals, and no animals destitute of fixed
peculiarities or characteristics which they, share in common with all
other animals of the class of which they are a type, and which they are
capable of transmitting with certainty to their descendants, can be
recognized by breeders as belonging to any one distinct race, breed, or
family.

The term "native" is applied to a vast majority of our American cattle,
which, though born on the soil, and thus in one sense natives, do not
constitute a breed, race, or family, as correctly understood by
breeders. They do not possess characteristics peculiar to them all,
which they transmit with any certainty to their offspring, either of
form, size, color, milking or working properties.

But, though an animal may be made up of a mixture of blood almost to
impurity, it does not follow that, for specific purposes, it may not, as
an individual animal, be one of the best of the species. Indeed, for
particular purposes, animals might be selected from among those comm