By the aid of these breeds alone it is certain that the live stock of Uruguay could never have attained to that degree of excellence in quality such as it can legitimately boast to-day. From these, for example, cattle could never have been produced of the class that the freezing works now demand, nor the valuable wool that is characteristic of the day. The beginning of this later progress dates from the middle of the last century. It was then that the more progressive breeders became aware of the limitations of the _criollo_ races, as are termed the breeds imported from Spain that have flourished and taken root in the land. To this end these were crossed with others of a superior type, and thus the much-improved _mestizos_, or cross-breds, were obtained. These now preponderate in many regions of the Republic, in which, by the way, no true criollo animals now remain. In order to effect this improvement in the cattle various English breeds have been introduced. Of these the two most important are the Durham and the Hereford, both of which are excellently adapted for the production of meat. By the crossing of these with the criollo a mestizo steer is obtained, capable of turning the scale at six hundred kilos and more, that provides excellent meat whether for the purposes of live shipment, freezing, salting, or extract. In addition to these more important breeds others have been introduced, such as the Devon, Polled Angus, and a few further varieties--all these, however, in a lesser degree. It will be evident from this that the improvements in stock have been effected chiefly with the view of increasing the quantity of meat produced. Nevertheless, there are others that have been imported for dairy purposes alone. The chief of these are the Dutch, Norman, Flemish, and Swiss. It must be remarked that the popularity of these is rapidly growing, on account of the progress and extension of the dairy industry. So far as sheep are concerned, the breeds that have been found most suitable for the country are the Merino, Lincoln, Shropshire, Hampshire, Romney Marsh, and Southdown. The Merino race amidst its new surroundings provides an especially fine class of wool that is appreciated throughout the world; from the crossing of the Merino with the English breeds animals are obtained that provide the best meat for the purposes of export, and those types of wool that are most in demand for general commercial purposes. The horses principally employed for saddle purposes and for light draught are the thorough-bred, Yorkshire, Anglo-Norman, Irish, and Russian, while for heavy draught the Percheron, Clydesdale, and Shire strains are the most popular. The improvement in pig-breeding has been effected by the introduction of several English species, such as the Yorkshire and Berkshire, the French animals of the kind being rarely employed.