The first and most important object of the farmer is to get the greatest return in money for his labor and his produce; and it is for his interest to obtain an animal--a calf, for example--that will yield the largest profit on the outlay. If a calf, for which the original outlay was five dollars, will bring at the same age and on the same keep more real net profit than another, the original outlay for which was not twenty-five cents, it is certainly for the farmer's interest to make the heavier original outlay and thus secure the superior animal. Setting all fancy aside, it is merely a question of dollars and cents; but one thing is certain--and that is, that no farmer can afford to keep poor stock. It eats as much, and requires nearly the same amount of care and attention, as stock of the best quality; while it is equally certain that stock of ever so good a quality, whether grade, native, or thorough-bred, will be sure to deteriorate and sink to the level of poor stock by neglect and want of proper attention. How, then, is our stock to be improved? Not, certainly, by that indiscriminate crossing, with a total disregard of all well-established principles, which has thus far marked our efforts with foreign stock, and which is one prominent reason why so little improvement has been made in our dairies; nor by leaving all the results to chance, when, by a careful and judicious selection, they may be within our own control. We want cattle for distinct purposes, as for milk, beef, or labor. In a large majority of cases--especially in the dairy districts, at least, comprising the Eastern and Middle States--the farmer cares more for the milking qualities of his cows, especially for the quantity they give, than for their fitness for grazing, or aptness to fatten. These latter points become more important in the Western and some of the Southern States, where much greater attention is paid to breeding and to feeding, and where comparatively slight attention is given to the productions of the dairy. A stock of cattle which would suit one farmer might be wholly unsuited to another, and in such particular case the breeder should have some special object in view, and select his animals with reference to it. There are, however, some well-defined general principles that apply to breeding everywhere, and which, in many cases, are not thoroughly understood. To these attention will now be directed. The first and most important of the laws to be considered in this connection is that of _similarity_. It is by virtue of this law that the peculiar characters, properties, and qualities of the parents--whether external or internal, good or bad, healthy or diseased--are transmitted to their offspring. This is one of the plainest and most certain of the laws of nature. The lesson which it teaches may be stated in five words:--Breed only from the best.