434 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



iii all cases you are going to gel what you waul; I think they have a 

 little influence. I think thai nutrition lias a little influence, but it 

 works so uncertainly that it is difficult to say that we are going to 

 know what we are going to get. You will notice thai al some seasons 

 lambs come almost entirely males, al other seasons they come almost 

 entirely females. 1 cannot think that is the result of blind accident; 

 I cannot help but think there is something in the character of what 

 those sheep feed on that exercises an influence, bul after all. there is 

 so much of uncertainty, that 1 question very much whether it is 

 worth any man's while to spend his time on it. 



MR. HUTCHISON: Isn't that one of the mysteries that has never 

 been solved? 



PROF. SHAW: It may be deemed one of the mysteries that has 

 never been solved, and I almost think, for the sake of the human race, 

 it is a good thing that it has not been solved. 



MR. HERR: Some of our dairymen breed from a Jersey sire and a 

 Guernsey dam. with the idea of using the dam to get quantity, and the 

 sire for quality, when they are breeding particularly for milk pur- 

 poses. 



PROF. SHAW: I imagine to a ecrtain extent they will get both. 

 But what are they going to do next time? If they go on with the 

 Jersey sire, in a little while their animals will be virtually Jerseys. 

 By simply making one cross I think they can get to a considerable 

 extent what they want. 



MR. RODGERS: How 7 many crosses on Holsteins can you make 

 before they will be pure bred Jerseys, starting with a Holstein dam 

 and a Jersey bull? 



PROF. SHAW: It would be several generations, because you see, 

 the dam, to begin with, was purely bred; there would be a greater 

 power of resistance. It would probably take a number of genera- 

 tions, probably two or three or more. 



The SECRETARY: I have heard the statement that there is not 

 any danger with pure bred sires until you reach the sixteenth' genera- 

 tion. Is there any such limit fixed by principles you have any knowl- 

 edge of? 



PROF. SHAW: No, I do not think so; I do not think that is correct. 



FROF. HAMILTON: What value would you place upon the Guinon 

 theory? 



PROF. SHAW: I do not lay much stress on it — on its possession. 

 Suppose you had two animals that were exactly evenly matched 

 except in that one particular, I would give the preference to the one 

 that had those indications in a marked degree over the other. 



A Member: Do you believe the secretions would indicate the butter 

 fat contents of the milk? 



PROF. SHAW: I think so. to some extent. I would not say that 

 they would be an absolute guide, but I think they are to some extent 

 an indication. 



