No. 85.] 245 



erto been able to secure that title, and until men are much altered, it 

 will continue to be so in future. It is an easy matter to improve an 

 inferior stock by crossing it with a superior one ; but when there is 

 no longer a superior stock to resort to for crossing, there will be found 

 but few who will be able to push improvement any farther. And 

 this will always render the number of truly fine animals compara- 

 tively small, and as a natural consequence, the prices they will com- 

 mand will be comparatively high. 



It is believed that the principle here laid down, is the one which 

 has been acted on in breeding, whether improvement has been sought 

 by crossing distinct breeds, and rearing a new one from the issue, or 

 by breeding entirely from one variety. It is this principle which con- 

 stituted the basis of the improvements effected in the Long Horn cat- 

 tle by Bakewell and Fowler, in the Short Horns by Colling and his 

 coadjutors, in the Herefords by Price, Tompkins, and others. It has 

 also been equally the basis of improvement in sheep-breeding, from 

 the Leicesters of Bakewell down to the South Downs of Ellman and 

 Webb, and the Anglo-Merinos of Lord Western. Proper selection \s 

 the grand point, and, with a sufficient range for this, with due care 

 in feeding, &c., in proportion to the skill and judgment of the breeder, 

 in discovering the excellencies and defects of animals for particular 

 purposes, so will be his success in attaining the points of improve- 

 ment at which he aims. Every thing depends upon the faculty of 

 the breeder to select those animals for propagation which are best 

 calculated to promote his object. 



It may not be improper to make a remark here m relation to cer- 

 tain modes of breeding, in reference to which much has been said and 

 written. 



Breeding from animals of near relationship, commonly called in- 

 and-in breeding, is generally considered injudicious. On the other 

 hand, crossing two distinct races, whose characteristics present a wide 

 contrast is by some considered equally impolitic. 



Breeding directly in-and-in, or from precisely the same blood, is not, 

 probably, often practiced by professional breeders. It is usually ad- 

 mitted that Bakewell practiced very close breeding, if, indeed, he did 

 not breed from precisely the same blood, with both cattle and 

 sheep. And yet his stock not only improved in symmetry and ten 

 dency to fatten, but in constitution also.* It is true that after his 

 death the stock declined, but under the guidance of his master mind, 

 no degeneracy was indicated. He made such selections of animals 

 for breeders, in the beginning, as suited his judgment, but afterwards 

 confined himself to his own stock ; but it has been observed that his 

 stock was so large as to furnish unusual facilities. 



Crossing long-wooled with short-wooled sheep, and breeding from 

 the issue, is commonly considered injudicious, and in general the plan 



• " The principle which he [Bakewell] invariably adopted was, to f elect the best beast 

 that would weigh most in the valuable joints ; so that while he gained in point of shape, 

 he also acquired a more hardy breed, and especially by attending to the kindliness of 

 their skins, he became possessed of a race, which was more easily fed and fattened than 

 any other."— [Complete Grazier, p. 34.] 



