BREEDING FOR THE DAIRY. 191 



influence ; that is, the very large number of his offspring, in 

 proportion to that of the female, among our domestic ani- 

 mals. But it is well established now, that the influence of 

 the male imparts vigor of body and the general conformation 

 of the system, especially of the forward parts, and that he 

 transmits to his progeny the qualities of the mother by which 

 he was born. A well-bred bull dropped by a first-rate dairy 

 cow will produce a calf that will make, if a heifer, another 

 good dairy cow. He will transmit to his da,ughter the quali- 

 ties of his mother, if he have well fixed in his constitution 

 the hereditary power of which I have spoken. In breeding 

 dairy stock, therefore, it is of the utmost importance to 

 study and to know the quality of the stock from Avhich the 

 male has descended. 



There are three objects which the general breeder desires 

 to gain, with a view to profit, and each requires a mode of 

 proceeding peculiar to itself; and any departure from this 

 mode will be sure to result in loss, or failure to attain the 

 special object in view. The first is the production of milk. 



The milking or dairy qualities of our stock have a wide 

 range of development ; that is, they are not confined to any 

 one race or class of stock, but are found, to a greater or less 

 extent, in cows belonging to all the well-established breeds, 

 and in many individuals among our common stock, though 

 some breeds or families of aninials have been raised with 

 greater attention to the milking qualities than others. In 

 other words, high milking or dairy qualities are now the 

 rule in some breeds, while they are the exception in others. 

 The mode of feeding has much to do with the practical 

 results in the dairy. Still, the quantity of milk which an 

 animal, a cow, for instance, is capable of secreting, depends 

 very much upon the supply of blood which passes into the 

 mammary glands, but especially upon the activity of those 

 glands; v/hile the quality of this milk depends upon the 

 internal structure of the cow. 



The animal in a v/ild state, or in a state of nature, has 

 stronger reproductive powers, greater energy of the system 

 and constitution, than one long under the influence of do- 

 mestication. The natural laws are to some extent interfered 

 with by the efforts we have to make to establish and per- 

 petuate certain peculiarities of the animal system, the ex- 



