The Osceola times., 1885-05-23
SOIL AND CLIMATE.
They Are Inpsstsss Rsetsrs 1. A.s-.s
DevelOp0aaG


They Are Impssteat Haetsrs IN A.s-.s
Devsiop0sae
Once more we draw from vegesab,.
life an illustration Of the circumstance.
affecting animal development An am.
ateur gardener friend. writing Of som.
peas ssnt to him as seed. win a strons
recommendation os the variety 70 whioS
they belonged. declared that II all tAss
had been said Of them were true thev
must be peas Of Paradise. but he could
scarcely got crop from them. Mere
growing was about all they could do in
his garden, and hs d successful horti.
culturist. Yet the character had NOT
been overdrawn Under slightly differ
ent circumstances Of climate. not ope
hundred miles from his place Of resi-.
dence. and in different soil. the same
variety ofpea had proved An enormous
cropper. Of delicious flavor. We all
know how . certain cereal. or root, or
forage crop. or grass, takes peculiar de-
light in certain districts; will flourish
on one side Of hill and sicken on the
other side; how many crops want .
bracing air. some genial warmth; these
Q damp. those . dry atmosphere, .
sheltered or an airy situation. A SEEDS
man, nevertheless, will sometimes 40.
sert unconditionally that Q specified
seed Is the best; and in similarly un-
qualified and unguarded terms, stock.
breeder has been known to claim pre-
smineuce OF merit for the breed which
be has found hest for his own purpose
and in his own hands.
Competitive trials Of various breeds
have been suggested, for the object OF
settling disputed claims OF superiority.
Such trials may be made very useful In
their way: they may add valuable sta
tistics to the stores of information al
ready within the reach Of breeders who
wish to know what is going on out
side the boundary lines OF their own
land; and no breeder who neglects
those stores can claim to be keeping
abreast Of the worlds progress, what
ever he may be doing independently in
his isolated position; but when all that
experiment can demonstrate is known,
the test Of practice in each locality
must finally decide the question Of the
predominance Of breed. A breed may
again and again prove second best, or
third best, in competitive trials, yet
again and again exclude its superiors
from the places to which it specially
adapts itself The mountain breeds OF
sheep have each their own ranges Of
pasturage, upon which no other breeds
can thrive. II these breeds were ex-
terminated. years, probably to be
counted by Centuries. must pass
before breeds equally well suited
to those particular ranges could take
their place, and when breeds SO suited
to the altitude. climate, soil and pasture
OF those mountain ranges were at
length produced, possibly their char
acter might be found 10 assimilate very
closely with that of the extinct breeds
which they had succeeded. The con.
ditions OF life and the constituents Of
food. in short. have so strong a bearing
upon the habits. tempers, forms and all
other characteristics of animals, that
the breeds become specially adapted to
places where those conditions Of life
and constituents Of the food which sup
ports it are constantly the same, or
closely similar. II the changes Of
pasturage to which breed has been
subjected. possibly during hundreds Of
generations, are but slight (as in the
case Of local breeds of mountain Sheep
the probability. we may say certainty,
is. that adaptation Of the breed to total
ly new circumstances can be effected
only by sacrifice, to some extent, Of It's
distinguishing characteristics; and II
the breed have not las some breeds
have, while others do not possess) the
property Of elasticity, or facile adapta-
ton to new circumstances, that breed,
so useful in its old home and so justly
commended by its supporters there,
will inevitably, like our friends peas,
lose reputation by a trial elsewhere
Lire Stock Journal.