44 FARMING A NOBLE OCCUPATION. which his predecessors knew nothing, and demanding the exercise of a clear and sound judgment, and an amount of experience far greater than he can ever hope to collect together in his own individual lifetime. It is a recognition of the last-named requirement that has called our farmers' clubs, our agricultural societies, and our numerous periodical and standard works on farming operations into existence. Farming life is one eminently calculated for human happiness and virtue. It is truly a noble occupation; he who faithfully discharges his duty, whether his acres are many or few, largely contributes to the well-being of society and to the peaceful enjoyment of the blessings which a bountiful Providence has lavished on this happy land. Let no farmer suppose that his occupation is degrading, or that,— whatever it may have been in former times,—it is only suited to the clownish and the ignorant. On the contrary, it gives strength to the mind as well as vigour to the body. The sublimity and beauty surrounding his daily life must act upon his reason and feeling, and end in rendering him, as it were, a portion of themselves. The first intellects of the age have been engaged with enjoyment and success in agricultural research. The highest names in all the sciences-Boussingault, Liebig, Voelcker, and Sibson among chemists; Buckland, Murchison, and De la Beche among geologists; De Candolle, Lindley, and Berkeley, among botanists-have ENJOYMENTS OF RURAL LIFE. 45 especially distinguished themselves in the agricultural relations of their several sciences. Men of genius, in every department of literature, have written amidst such scenes, and thence derived their highest inspiration. Health, too, haunts the fields and forests; she sports on the mountains and gambols in the valleys; she lingers in the grove and by the fountain; she loves the fragrance of the new-mown hay; she loves the shepherd's whistle and the music of the birds at early dawn. Who would not live amidst the sights and sounds of rural life? "Then tell me not of worldly pride, And wild ambition's hopes of fame, "Give me the farm-house quaint and old, 46 MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. CHAPTER II. HAVING made a few observations on climate and on natural and cultivated grasses, we will now proceed to offer some remarks on the principles by which the breeder ought to be guided in the management of his stock, whether he wishes it to excel in the points required by the grazier or the dairy-farmer. It is admitted on all hands, that cattle, either for the dairy or for the flesh-market, must be well bred and excellent of their kind. To the dairy-farmer, the important points are the quantity and quality of milk which the animals will yield, their value for the production of butter and cheese, and the absence of bad temper and vicious habits, coupled with their character as good breeders. To the grazier, the chief points are, aptitude for rapid fattening, the fineness of the grain of the flesh or muscular fibres, the manner of laying on the fat, the smallness of the bone, soundness of constitution, and congeniality with the soil and the climate. Moreover, beauty and contour of form is also desirable. This is connected with smallness of bone, but not with a preternatural slenderness. We are informed by many able writers on such subjects, that in the time of Bakewell, in the last century, the BREEDING OF CATTLE. - 47 cattle in general were large, long-bodied, big-boned, flat-sided, slow to fatten, great consumers of food, and often black or foul-fleshed, or, as it is called in Yorkshire, "lyery." This patriotic breeder, acting upon true principles, set energetically to work upon the improvement of cattle; and, in the face of much opposition and many difficulties, lived to see the success of his long-continued efforts. Experience and a close observation had taught him that "like produces like"; in other words, that the qualities of the parents, such as beauty or utility of form, disposition to fatness, goodness of flesh, abundance of milk, and even temper,-were inherited by their offspring; and that, by careful selections on the side both of the sire and dam, a breed might be ultimately established to which the title blood could be distinctly applied. This, of course, supposes a primary selection, then a selection of such of the offspring as exhibited the properties which constituted their perfection in the highest degree, and again of the offspring of these, and so on progressively. At first, Mr. Bakewell was necessitated to breed in and in; but as his stock increased, he was enabled to interpose more or less distant removes between the members of the same family; and ultimately he established the Dishley, or New Leicester long-horns -a breed remarkable for smallness of bone, roundness of form, aptitude to fatten upon a moderate allowance, and fineness of flesh. But while he accomplished this, rendering the animals admirably 48 BREEDING OF CATTLE. suited for the grazier, it was found that their qualities as milkers were much deteriorated; the dairyfarmers consequently retained their old breed, noted for the richness, though perhaps not the great abundance, of the milk. We are not here speaking about the distinguishing excellences of the various breeds of cattle, but of the principles upon which excellences may be obtained. "Like produces like;" and both parents must present the same excellences, the same characteristics. It was by following out these rules that Mr. Bakewell arrived at perfection in his breed; indeed, by some he is thought to have pushed his principles too far, and the following remarks have perhaps some justice in them:-It was his grand maxim, that the bones of an animal intended for food could not be too small, and that the fat could not be too abundant. In pursuance of this leading theory, by inducing a preternatural smallness of bone and rotundity of carcase, he sought to cover the bones of all his animals, externally, with masses of fat. Thus the entirely new Leicester breed, from their excessive tendency to fatten, produce too small a quantity of eatable meat, and necessarily of inferior flavour and quality. They were, in general, found defective in weight, proportionally to their bulk; and if not thoroughly fattened, their flesh was crude and without flavour; while their carcases produced little else but fat, a very considerable part of which was sold at an inferior price, to make candles instead of food-not to forget the |