CLIMATE AND PURE BREEDS.
The argument goes very near to frank mysticism ; but it is not on that account to be lightly dismissed. Much of the evidence is very persuasive, especially in relation to England and Ireland. • It is absolutcdy essential for the breeders of certain varieties of farm animals to return to the stock bred on its native heath. The breed steadily loses quality elsewhere. It is astonishing in sonic cases how very narrow is the area where the continuity of the essential qualities is exclusively Maintained. South Devon and Aberdeen-Angus cattle, South Down sheep, and Welsh hill ponies are good examples. When you look into the origin of the best hunters and compare with these horses the performances of athletes, especially in jumping and weight-putting, it is hard not to believe that certain districts of Ireland excel other places in the production of a certain quality of resilient muscle. We know it is no accident that flax has flourished in Ulster, and what applies to the vegetable kingdom applies also to the animal. The climate is congenial as other climates are not. How far this association of place and quality in the breed goes we cannot tell, but it may go very deep. There certainly exist what one may call homes of quality in various places on the earth's surface ; and Britain appears to be exceptionally rich in such homes. An immediate example of the world's belief in this is the enormous prices that South American buyers have just been giving for our breeding stock. Only in North Britain is the essence of the Aberdeen-Angus stock permanently retained.
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