Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1856-02-06
fm tbs farmer.
IMPROVEMENT IN ANIMALS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ANIMALS.
No kind of food can make an ill-bred
i'll shaped beast fat in time to be profitable
Just as some men are more inclined Il
grow fat than others, so are some animals
and by selecting individuals of prope.
shape with this tendency, certain breeds
have been stereotyPed into a never-failing
type; that type in an OK or sheep is one
which presenisthe largest extent ofprime
meat, and the least amount of offal; or, as a
South Down breeder expressed it ga pc
feet sheep should be as nearly as posi-
bic, all legs and loins Of mutton"
To make this improvement, required Q
certain talent, enthusiasm, and years Of
patience. Breeders of pure stock, like
mechanical inventors, do not, on an AVER
age make money. On the contrary, fol
the pleasures Of the pursuit, and The
hope Of success, they expend large for
tunes, while few win great prizes. Bul
the country gains enormously in the re
suit, for now, the same space of ground
will feed twice the quantity Ofbeefand NUT
ton that it would fifty years ago. The an
finals not only come to maturity in hall
the time but, fed partly in yards or stalls,
they spoil less ground with tresding, and
return to The soil highly concentrated and
productive manure.
The first man who made stock-breeding
a fashionable pursui;-and that is a great
thing in a country where fashion rules
too much-was Robert Blackwell, ofDish.
ley, in LeicesleIshire the son and gr-D'-
son of farmers, hut If we mistake net
himself abarrister. Withhorned cattle, e
aimed at the cardinal Improvements which
are o universally established and ad-
miited in this country, where the growth
of meat-less than the dairy, as in Hol-
land and Swilzerland-is the principle OBJ
jeci. He tried to produce a large cylin-
dricsl body, small neck, small extremities'
and small bone. He said all was useless
that was not beef; and sought by choos-
ing and pairing the best specimens, 10
make the shoulders comparatively small,
and the hind quarters large, which is ex-
acily the reverse of animals allowed TO
breed freely and t, gallop at liberty over
wide pastures. Even The cattle of Aus
~tralia, bred from pure specimens, after
running wild for a few generations, begin
to lose the fine ~sirloins of their English
ancestors, growing tough and strinay for
the spit in proportion as they become &C
tive.
In sheep, Mr.. Blackwell declared that
his object was mutton, not wool; and, dis
regarding mere size, which is a vulgar
test of merit, he chose animals which had
that external form which is a sign of pro-
ducing the most mucles and fat and the
least bone /; and, by careful selection and
breeding, he stamped a form on the Lei
cester sheep which is retained to this
day.
The South Downs, douiless an indigo.
mouse breed, fed on the bare pastures OF
the southern coast, produce a fine quality
Of meat, and a close, short wool. Ii was
the turnip that rendered feeding the South
Down while young, possible. The great
improvement began with John Gilman, OF
Glynde, near Lewes, in the yearsevenieen
hundred and eighty. He preserved the
form Of the original breed, but corrected
the TOO great hight of the fore quarters,
widened the chest, made the back broader,
the ribs more curved, and the trunk more
symmetrical and compact. The ances-
tors of the present race were rarely killed
until the third or fourth year. They are
now sent to execution al two years, ard
sometimes even al fifteen months old,
They have since spread far superced-
ing the Berkshire, Hampshire, and Wilt
shire crossing aud altering The Shrop-
shire /; extending into Dorsetshire, Nor
folk, Devonshire, Heref1rdshire, Wales
and ever towards Westmoreland and
Cumberland, and have improved all the
breeds ofblack- faced heath sheeP.-Dick'