says of it: "And the raising of animals is here not the fad of men of
wealth who would play at country life. It is a serious business,
productive of actual profit and a deep-seated satisfaction as
continuous and well grounded as I have ever seen taken by men in their
vocation."

The wealthier class of citizens of course specialize, each according
to his personal choice. One, with 1,500 acres, all told, does a large
dairying business and raises registered Dorset horn sheep, large white
Yorkshire swine, registered Guernsey cattle, and Percheron horses.
Another, with a like acreage, specializes in hackneys. A third, on his
300 or more acres, raises thoroughbreds and Irish hunters. A fourth,
with 1,000 acres, fattens cattle for market and breeds Percheron
horses, thoroughbreds, hackneys, and cattle. A fifth, owning several
thousand acres, fattens cattle for export. A half dozen others, on
farms ranging from 200 to 1,000 acres, raise thoroughbreds or draft
animals. These are the specialties; on all the farms mentioned the
owners have their secondary interests.

Some of the farmers whose capital will not permit the purchasing of
high-priced breeding stock, have long been engaged in the business of
finishing cattle for the market, animals being shipped from Tennessee,
West Virginia, and elsewhere to be fattened on the wonderful grasses
of Loudoun County. These steers are pastured from several months to
two years, or according to their condition and the rapidity with which
they fatten.

Sheep are to be found on most every large farm and are kept for both
wool and mutton. Buyers visit these farms early in the winter and
contract to take the lambs at a certain time in the spring, paying a