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474 LIVE STOCK.

The business of keeping Jive-stock, naturally di- vides itself into three branches, BREEDING, STORE- FEEDING, and FATTENING; and the choice of these must generally depend upon local circumstances; but where aman is free to chuse, the matter ought to depend upon calculation, proved by experience. A man who has not much sensibility for brute creatures, and shrinks at the idea of trouble with them, willalways be able to buy cheaper and better than he can breed: but judicious breeding will al- ways pay; it affords the breeders profit, the chance of improvement, and the advantage, in respect to fattening, that animals will generally prove quick- est. and best, upon the spot on which they were bred. Cautions have ever been given against

breeding from animals too young; and in order

to obtain good stock, and for the safety of the in- dividuals themselves, it 1s recommended to decline the first indications of nature. This advice may be very sound, in a general view; I have, how- ever, often seen the earliest progeny of a female, superior to any of the succeeding, and it is prudent to lose no time. Much depends on good keep, from the very birth of the animal. The caution is of most consequence, as it respects the male, which should be never, or sparingly used, in this way, until ar- rived at a state of maturity. The system of cutting green meat, is of vast consequence in breeding; and granting room for a range, stock may be ad- vantageously bred any where, within twenty miles of the metropolis. The old notion of breeding counties, in its vulgar acceptation, is laughable in- deed. Store-feeding is attended with the least risk,