Suppose again, that an acre of grass or a ton of hay costs five dollars, and that for its consumption by a given set of animals, the farmer gets a return of five dollars worth of labor, or meat, or wool, or milk. He is selling his crop at cost, and makes no profit. Suppose by employing other animals, better horses, better cows, oxen and sheep, he can get ten dollars per ton in returns. How much are the latter worth more than the former? Have they not doubled the value of the crops, and increased the profit of farming from nothing to a hundred per cent? Except that the manure is not doubled, and the animals would some day need to be replaced, could he not as well afford to give the price of his farm for one set as to accept the other as a gift? Among many, who are in fact ignorant of what goes to constitute merit in a breeding animal, there is an inclination to treat as imaginary and unreal the higher values placed upon well-bred animals over those of mixed origin, unless they are larger and handsomer in proportion to the price demanded. The sums paid for qualities which are not at once apparent to the eye are stigmatized as _fancy prices_. It is not denied that fancy prices are sometimes, perhaps often paid, for there are probably few who are not willing occasionally to pay dearly for what merely pleases them, aside from any other merit commensurate to the price. But, on the other hand, it is fully as true that great intrinsic value for breeding purposes may exist in an animal and yet make very little show. Such an one may not even look so well to a casual observer, as a grade, or cross-bred animal, which although valuable as an individual, is not, for breeding purposes, worth a tenth part as much. Let us suppose two farmers to need a bull; they go to seek and two are offered, both two years old, of similar color, form and general appearance. One is offered for twenty dollars--for the other a hundred is demanded. Satisfactory evidence is offered that the latter is no better than any or all of its ancestors for many generations back on both sides, or than its kindred--that it is of a pure and distinct breed, that it possesses certain well known hereditary qualities, that it is suited for a definite purpose, it may be a Short-horn, noted for large size and early maturity, it may be a Devon, of fine color and symmetry, active and hardy, it may be an Ayrshire, noted for dairy qualities, or of some other definite breed, whose uses, excellencies and deficiencies are all well known.