THE FIRST STOCK BREEDER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1911, 4 October 1884, Page 4

THE FIRST STOCK BREEDER.

Ttk first man who made stock breeding a fashionable, pursuit— an<l thnt is a great thing in a country where fashion rules too much— was Robert Bakewell, of Wish ley, in Leicestershire, the son anil ur.mdMMi of fanner ; but, if we mistake not, himself a ban-liter. With horned cattle he aimed at the cardinal improvements which aie now universally established and admitted in this country, wheie the growth of meat, less than the dairy, as in Holland and Switzerland, is the* principal object. He tried to produce a large, cylindrical body, small head, small neck, small extremities, and small bone. Me said that all was useless that was not beef, and sought by choosing and pairing tl.e best specimens to make the shoulders comparatively small and the hi'id-quarters large, which is exactly the reverse of animals allowed to breed freely and to gallop of liberty over wide pastures. lOvon the cattle of Australia bred from pure specimens, after running wild for a few generations, begin to lose the fine sirloins of their English ancestors, growtough and stiingy for the spit in proportion is they become active. In sheep Mr Bakewell declared that his object was mutton, not wool ; and disregarding mere sixe, which is a vulgar test ot merit, he cho°e animals which had that external horn which is a sign of producing the most muscle and fat and the, least bone ; and by careful selection and breeding he stamped a form on the Leicester sheep, which it retains to this day. The Southdowns, doubtless an indigenous breed, feed on the bare pastures of the southern coast, produce a fine quality of meat, and a clo'-e, short wool. It was the turnip that rendered the feeding the Southdown while young possible. The great impro\ ement began with John Ellman, of Glynde, near Lewis, in the year 1780. He preserved the foimofthe original breed, but corrected the too great height of the fore quarters, widened the chest, made the back broader, the ribs moie curved, and the tiurk more symmetrical and compact. The ancestois of the present race were rarely killed until the third or fourth yeni . They are now sent to execution at two years, and sometimes even at fifteen months old. They have since spread far, superseding the breeds of Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire, crossing and altering the. Shropshire, extending into Dorsetshire, Surrey, Norfolk, Devonshire, Herefordshire, Wales, and even towards Westmoreland and Cumberland, and ha\e improved all the breeds of black-faced heath sh'-ep — N. Z. Country Journal.

Tiik claim that maize, or Indian coin plant, is indigenous to the soil of the New WoiM has lately been contested, iind recent mvestig itions of certain ChincM. 1 lecoidsaie cited to prove that it was cultivated in China jnior to the di^co\ery of Americi. Chinese authors maintain that it c.iine tiom conntiies west of China, and th.it it was introduced into that country long before the (iist anival of the Portuguese in 1.117. Tim O.im.iru Vail terms Sir C4eorg<> Uiey a " political iiatricide, " and says he has killed the Libeial p.u ty for years. " It is plain now that Sir (forge's love of piinciplfa is hiihoirliucited to liis love for mischief, and that his hatied of the chief opponents ot his pet theories is but skindeep. Like a ciuel child who revels in torturing a ily, he laughs at the defeat ,md discomfiture of his whilom political friends, and seeks to punish them for tlieii disloyalty to his person by seeking to .supplant them by their enemies— the men w horn he has piofessed to hate." Pkinck.Stoi'hijzv, evHospodar of Moldavia, is dead, ;iged over ninet}' yeais. Hi-> Hist olKcial .ict was to reintegrate (iO,OOO peasants inland which has been taken fi out their f.ithen by Tuiks lie fteed all his ownseifs and 3009 others, greatly impioved (4il.it/ and Jj^sy, endowed hospital's, schools, and asylums all this out ot his own pi ivate fortune — and gave the agiiciiltiu.il intciusts such stimulus that land, during his rulministidtions, incictiscd in value iiftconfold. Si'M'.UY Li f.s ix Fowls.— Many flocks of fowls are olxseived to be affected by scaly legs or " scabs.' 1 This is the work of a small parasite worm which burrows in the &kin and causes it to loosen in scales. A giowci in tin's sicimty says that it can be cured ea&ily and effectually by nibbing the legs of the affected fowls with the following mixture: — A tablespoonfull of petroleum and a half ounce of l.ud thooughly mingled. Four or H\e applications during five weeks will generally clean the. legs of scales. The peti oleum whitens the skin for a tune, the sulphur may be substituted for the oil, being just as efficicious in killing the parasite and not discolouring the skin of the fowls. Railways in China.— The Chinese Impel ial (io\ eminent lias, it is said, come to a decision of yieat impoitance, that, namely, of sanctioning in principle the liitiodnotion ot iaihvay-i into the countiy. The J^mptess called upon the great functionaries of State to submit plans for the constiuction and management of stiategical and commercial lines. K\ecuti\e pioposals weie made by the Yiceioy, Li Hung Chang and other leplcsentatives of tho progiessive school, to be can led out on the conclusion of a definitive ticaty with "Fiance. Li-llnnq-Chang is now convinced by experience that no public ivoik lcquiring oig.mi«ation and financial accuiacy can be undci taken by the Chinese themselves. Consequently the i .always will be constiucted and managed by skilful foicigncis in the service of the Chinese Government, which will itself piobably assume the lcsponsibility of making State linea.

August Flower. The nioit miserable beings in tlie world aic those suffuiing fiom Dyspepsia and Lnei Complaint. Moie than seventy five percent of the people aw; .iHlictcd with thi'se two diseases and tlieir i (loots ; such as Sour Stomach, Sick ICeadache, Habitual Costiveness, Palpitation of the Heart, Ileait-lnun, 'VWiterbiash, gnawing and burning pains at the pit of the Stomach, Yollow Skin, Coated Tongue and disagreeable taste in the mouth, coming up ot food after eating, low spiiits, &c. Co to your Druggist and get a bottle of August Flower. This valuable medicine has cuied thousands and thousands of suflerets and is known in all civilised, countiies. Two doses will teliove you. It costs outy 3s Gd a bottle. Sample bottles (id.