Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1886-01-14

er pplulS SOOuiu De nelu suOserNleuI ~
these, and be considered only in their re-
lstion to and as tending to strengthen
and establish those of cardinal value.
The intelligent farmer who adhsres
-strictly to this plan of operations can
make no mistake in improving his fiocks
aud herds. When. however, be comes to
disregard performance and product, he
is venturiug upoa dangerous ground.
Performance is Pre-eminently the
measure OF value in those classes OF an
inals from which we obtain service on
ly. of which the horse is the leading
type in this country. 1t boots little if a
horse have size. if hs have not strength ;
if be be neatly and compactly built, if
he have no action; if be can draw pow
erfuIly, or trot swiftly. Or carry his
master easily, if he have no endurance
in these labors. No matter heW magnt-
icent bis appearance. be is not wanted
simply as an ornament or a hgurehead
on the farm. However attractive he
may be, he is valuable according to his
+capability for Doing just what is requir-
ed of bin.
product is of two kinds-that which
COMES from the living animal as rsgu-
lar periodical contribution to supplying
the comforts and necessities of man, as
milk, and butter, and wool; and that
which is obtained only by terminating
the animals existence, as beef, and pork,
and mutton. From a part of our farm
stock we get both classes of products.
from a part only one, and from others
neither. The usefulness of the horse
and the dog ends with death; the income
from the hog begins with death; ind
good h derived from cattle and sheep
bote in life and in death. The self-in
terest of the owner. outside Of humane
considerations, requires, then. that the
horse be made to live as long as his use
fulnesS will pay for his keep; that the
life of the hog bs Glsde the very briefest
span possible, commensurate with a
profitable maturity of carcass; and that
the life of milk-prOduciDg cattle and
wool-bearing sheep he prolonged to the
point where the probability of diminu-
ton of product, or deterioration In the
value of the carcass, admonishes that its
continuation will be at financial risk.
To carry out this idea of practical utili-
ty. the farmers horse must not be one
which will break down at maturity;
his swine must not be of the old monde
script varieties which require years for
decent development; his cattle must not
be of the kind which do not yield enough
milk to pay to keep them, and cannot be
made fat enough to pay to butcher them
and whose milk and beef are alike so
poor that no one will buy sither at an
average market price. As to his sheep,
many mistakenly think that they must
not now be of any kind.
Taking any kind Of domesticated ami
NAL as genus, there are species of each
which show more complete adaptation to
some purposes than they do to others, in
which other species of the same genus
excel. Fer instance, of the genus horse
there are q number of species, differing
materially in size, weight and action, and
admirably suited respectively to widely
distinct classes Of work. The fact of
these special developments has led stock
men to hope for the formation of com>
posite breeds. combining in a fair degree
all the excellence for which individual
breeds are noted. Farmers need to have
their stock do rs many things, and yield
as wide range of products, as possible,
without seriously impairing the quality
Of either service or yield. Breeders re-
cognize this fact, and hence the idea Of
general purpose stock By the general
purpose horse is meant one which shall
be, in some approxim~t. dsSree, equally
at home in the heavy wagon team, in the
buggy shafts, or under ;he saddle. The
ideal general purpose COW is to yield
huge quantities of the richest milk, and
in the end, in some unexplained and pos
sibly unexplainable way, pass over a
prize carcass 10 the butcher. The CONS
ing general purpose sheep, which is lia-
ole to be coming Tor all time, is to top
the market with B0TH its wool and its
mutton. The general purpoSs hog is
found only in the human family, and is
the individual who expects to find every
variety of merit existing in asuperlatiVe
degree in any one OF the special breeds
upon the market.
No intelligent stockman will deny that
the whole idea OF general purpose stock,
AS it relates to obtaining the highest reI
suits, is an utterly impracticable one.
The real general purpose animal will
never equal the Jersey in butter, or the
Shorihorn in beef; the Merino in wool,
or the Southdown in mutton; the road
ster for light driving, or the Clydesdale
and Norman for draft. Special attain>
ment in one direction is made by sacril
ice in another, and comparative equal
izing of all merits precludes the posi-
bility of rare excellence in any. Those
who talk differently for their favorite
breeds know thoroughly well that they
are talking nonsense.
Buff there is no such thing as com
posite superiority, there is at least some
thing in the way of composite merit,
and il it the general farmer is directly
interested. If the ideal general purpose
animal is myth, there is sufficient of
an approximation to it to permit the
farmer to prodtably handle at least we'll
bred and generally thoroughbred stock
Not many farmers can afford to be spe+
cialists to the degree that their eggs are
all placed in one basket, though they mag
be so situated that it will pay them best