114 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ing whether of cattle or horses, or of any particular class of 

 horses. 



But be sure that the animal selected to represent this class or 

 reproduce it, be proved by trial to possess physical power and 

 nervous energy enough to determine the qualifications of its g?t. 



If the animals selected are types of your wishes, know that 

 they can reproduce these types, or you are afloat without compass, 

 and while you may land somewhere in the direction of your wishes, 

 yet with no certainty at the desired haven. 



In selecting animals to breed, as a matter of course you will con- 

 sider which class of horses you desire to produce. The running 

 horse for sporting purposes, the trotting horse which may be used 

 for any purpose as a gentleman's horse, the carriage horse for family 

 use, the truck horse or a combination which is found among the 

 horses raised by the farmers of New England. Each class has its 

 sine qua non of excellence suited to the uses for which it is desired. 



The lumberman of Maine or Minnesota would be unwilling to 

 accept the thoroughbred horse of Kentucky for his business. Or 

 -the truckman of our cities would not accept the gentleman's 

 V driving horse for the sturdy labors of the trucks. 



Therefore having selected that class which you desire to produce, 

 next conies choice of sire and dam, as the first consideration. 



The eire is of the most importance, because experience teaches 

 that he determines the character of the progeny much more than 

 the dam. 



Dr. Alexander "Walker in a work upon intermarriage treats this 

 subject with distinct and convincing arguments. He asserts that 

 the breeding of domestic animals is conducted in the most uncer- 

 tain manner for want of practical knowledge of the power of each 

 sex to -give liis or her organization, and he clearly expounds 

 that one class of organs is propagated by the male, and others by 

 the female. And the inference which I draw from his writings is 

 that these evidences are better defined in domestic animals, on 

 account of the less mental influences to which they are subjected 

 at the time of conception. The late eminent physiologist, Dr. 

 Knight, as well as Dr. Walker, argues upon this point among 

 others, that the sire gives character to the locomotive organs 

 and the dam to the nutritive organs. 



So far as the locomotive organs are concerned, I may cite you 

 to the fact that nearly all the produce of trotting stallions bred to 

 pacing mares, are trotting progeny, while that of pacing horses 



