FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 171 



laws uuderlie and apply equally to all classes or breeds of thoroughbred stock. 

 Ill their application breeders differ, and hence the great diversity of results. 

 Without talcing up the time of this Institute to discuss the various theories 

 advanced by different writers upon the subject, and in which a majority of the 

 members present have no special interest, I shall state a few general facts and 

 leave the subject. 



Every breeder of Short-horns, of Devons, etc., of Merino or large breeds of 

 sheep, should thoroughly understand their family history or breeding. In 

 Short-horns he should be able to trace the breeding to the importations and 

 beyond, and after having carefully studied this he should look carefully over 

 his herd, noting the different families represented, the })oints of improvement 

 he wishes to make, and then purchase the bull most likely to make such 

 improvement, regardless of what it will cost, unless the price be extravagant. 

 Now, here is a difficulty, for frequently a well bred and good formed bull has 

 not the strength of breeding to stamp the desired qualities strongly upon his 

 offspring; and hence the necessity of studying carefully the breeding of any 

 bull the breeder proposes to buy. Because a bull is thoroughbred and regis- 

 tered in some one or all of the Short-horn herd books, it is no reason that he 

 should be purchased as a stock animal. That sire is worth the most, and the 

 one that can the most safely be relied on, that i:)roduces the greatest similarity 

 in his get, and that in the right direction. And we would be more likely to 

 find such qualities in a bull that shows by his ancestry that a care has been 

 taken to breed in a certain direction and for a certain purpose through several 

 generations, either through in and in breeding, or what might be called line or 

 type breeding. Bulls promiscuously bred should not be sought to stand at the 

 head of thoroughbred herds. By the term " promiscuously bred " we mean 

 animals whose ancestry shall have been first one strain of blood and then 

 another. One cross from the Booth bull and one from the Bates, and so on in 

 different families all mixed in. It is not necessary that a sire should be pure 

 Duke, or Bates, or Booth, but that the several late crosses should be either one 

 or the other. If the characteristics of the Booth family suit best, a well bred 

 Booth should be used ; if the Bates family is preferred, then a bull with several 

 Bates crosses on top should be secured. With a strong bred herd of cows it is 

 very necessary that a bull of strong prepotent powers should be used, and that 

 line of breeding be sought which is in accordance with the blood of the herd. 

 The male should possess the color, disposition (if possible) and form and char- 

 acter of the calves you covet. All things considered, I would rather breed 

 from an ordinary formed bull well bred in the direction I wished than from a 

 superior looking one not so well bred, expecting the strength of breeding would 

 more than retrieve the lack of good looks in his offspring. 



What is true in cattle is true in sheep and swine, also in horses, though in 

 breeding horses the end sought is so different tiiat many other things have to 

 be looked after, namely: endurance, strength, speed, size, soundness of limbs, 

 beautiful action, intelligence, etc., etc. 



Mr. President, if M'hat has been hastily and imperfectly thrown together in 

 this paper shall be the means of calling attention to the subject of stock-raising, 

 and better care be bestowed upon our domestic animals, and the breeds 

 improved, nil will have been accomplished that was desired. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Gully wanted to know if it would pay the ordinary farmer to breed pure 

 blooded animals. 



