We would not be understood as condemning everything else, excepting the
dogs we have named, for farm use. The Newfoundland, and the mastiff, are
enormously large dogs, and possessed of some noble qualities. They have
performed feats of sagacity and fidelity which have attracted universal
admiration; but, three to one, if you have them on your farm, they will
kill every sheep upon it; and their watchfulness is no greater than that
of the shepherd dog, or the terrier. We have spoken of such as we have
entire confidence in, and such as we consider the best for useful
service. There are some kinds of cur dog that are useful. They are of no
_breed_ at all, to be sure; but have, now and then, good qualities; and
when nothing better can be got, they will do for a make-shift. But as a
rule, we would be equally particular in the _breed_ of our dog, as we
would in the breed of our cattle, or sheep. There are altogether too
many dogs kept, in the country, and most usually by a class of people
who have no need of them, and which prove only a nuisance to the
neighborhood, and a destruction to the goods of others. Thousands of
useful sheep are annually destroyed by them; and in some regions of the
country, they can not be kept, by reason of their destruction by
worthless dogs, which are owned by the disorderly people about them. In
a western state, some time ago, in conversing with a large farmer, who
had a flock of perhaps a hundred sheep running in one of his pastures,
and who also kept a dozen hounds, for hunting, we asked him whether the
dogs did not kill his sheep? "To be sure they do," was his reply; "but
the dogs are worth more than the sheep, for they give us great sport in
hunting deer, and foxes; and the sheep only give us a little mutton, now
and then, and some wool for the women to make into stockings!" This is a
mere matter of taste, thought we, and the conversation on that subject
dropped. Yet, this man had a thousand acres of the richest land in the
world; raised three or four hundred acres of corn, a year; fed off a
hundred head of cattle, annually; and sold three hundred hogs every
year, for slaughtering!
* * * * *
Books Published
by
C. M. SAXTON,
152 Fulton Street, New York,
Suitable for
School, Town, Agricultural,
and
Private Libraries.
The American Farm Book;
The American Farm Book; or, a Compend of American Agriculture,
being a Practical Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation,
Grasses, Grain, Roots, Fruits, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar-Cane, Rice,
and every staple product of the United States; with the best methods
of Planting, Cultivating, and Preparation for Market. Illustrated by
more than 100 engravings. By R. L. Allen. Cloth, $1; mail edition,
paper, 75 cts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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