diſſected a horſe of 5 feet 9 inches height, French
meaſure, equal to 6 feet 1.7 Engliſh. This is
near 6 inches higher than any horſe I have ſeen:
and could it be ſuppoſed that I had ſeen the largeſt
horſes in America, the concluſion would be,
that ours have diminiſhed, or that we have bred
from a ſmaller ſtock. In Connecticut and Rhode
Iſland, where the climate is favorable to the
production of graſs, bullocks have been ſlaughtered
which weighed 2500, 2200, and 2100lb. nett;
and thoſe of 1800lb. have been frequent. 1 have
ſeen a [1]hog weigh 1050lb. after the blood,
bowels, and hair had been taken from him. Before
he was kiilled, an attempt was made to weigh him
with a pair of ſteel-yards, graduated to 1200lb.
but he weighed more. Yet this hog was probably
not within fifty generations of the European
ſtock. I am well informed of another which
weighed 1100lb. groſs. Aſſes have been ſtill
more neglected than any other domeſtic animal in
America. They are neither fed nor houſed in the
moſt rigoronus ſeaſon of the year. Yet they are
larger than thoſe meaſured by Mons. D'Aubenton,[2] of 3 feet 7 and quarter inches, 3 feet 4 inches,
and 3 feet 2 inches and half, the latter weighing
only 215.8lb. Theſe ſizes, I ſuppoſe, have
been produced by the ſame negligence in Europe,
which has produced a like diminution here.
Where care has been taken of them on that ſtide of
the water, they have been raiſed to a ſize bordering
on that of the horſe; not by the heat and
dryneſs of the climate, but by good food and ſhelter.
Goats have been alſo much neglected in America.
Page:Notes on the State of Virginia (1802).djvu/88
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78
NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
