Our domestic animals, their habits, intelligence and usefulness

PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN liDITION

Our many domestic animals liave played an important role in the civilization of man. Without them — especially the dog, the liorse, the cow, and the sheep — man's development onward and u]nvard would have been slow and uncertain. Those countries in which the problem of domestication did not enter remained ever near to barbarism, never progressing beyond a certain limit. The American red man, brave, cunning, persevering, could not overstep the boundaries that limited his civilization, because he had no animal that he might domesticate, and no beast of burden to aid him in doing certain kinds of fatiguing w'ork.

This book is concerned with these helpers of civilization. It is to teach something about their value to man, so that they may receive more aj^preciative attention and more kindly consideration from the resident of the city and of the country, that this book appears.

For many photographs that are reproduced on the following pages grateful appreciation is expressed to Mr. John F. Cunningham, Cleveland, Ohio; to Mr. Joseph E. Wing, Mechanicsburg, Ohio ; and to the Ohio Farmer, Cleveland, Ohio.