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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



doctrine of the fixity of species by the announce- 

 ment of a new animal having been produced be- 

 tween a hare and a rabbit, that proved perfectly 

 fertile ; that a number of them had lieen breeding 

 freely among themselves for many generations, and 

 that they constituted a new type of animals. This 

 statement interested me so much that I was very 

 desirous to get a sight of the new animal, believing 

 it to be the first new type or species ever produced, 

 and concluded that it would make its appearance 

 at the Crystal Palace rabbit show; and indeed 

 rabbits were shown there professing to be hare- 

 rabbits, but no satisfactory account was 'given of 

 them. Some rabbit-fanciers state that they had 

 tried to get the cross, but had utterly failed ; for 

 v/hen the hares and rabbits were put together they 

 fought to such a degree that they would have killed 

 one another had they not been separated. From 

 what I have as yet learnt, I expect they were even 

 worse cases than any that have sought relief under 

 the new Divorce Act. Who can give credit to 

 such a thing on a mere statement ? for the struc- 

 ture, external and internal, as well as the habits of 

 the two animals are widely different. The hare 

 breeds only twice, or at most, three times in the 

 year, and has only from two to four young at each 

 litter ; whereas the rabl)it breeds say six or eight 

 times, and has four to eight at each litter. I think 

 we may rest satisfied that we have nothing to ex- 

 pect from a cross between two different species, 

 beside a barren hybrid. Now as to the crossing 

 of varieties of the same species, have we not some 

 improvement to expect from that source — that is, 

 the crossing of one breed with another — I use the 

 terms breeds and varieties as synonymous. This 

 has become a subject of great interest. I think that 

 experienced breeders, and naturalists who have 

 paid considerable attention to this subject, are at 

 length becoming of opinion that we have nothing 

 to hope for after the first cross. Our most emi- 

 nent agricultural writers, Youatt among the rest, 

 were in the habit of attributing the origin of our 

 improved breeds of cattle, and all our other im- 

 proved domestic animals, to crosses with other 

 breeds ; but I believe experience of late years goes 

 to show that there is a fixedness or permanency 

 about varieties as well as about species; and that 

 you cannot by crossing two varieties produce an 

 intermediate variety, that shall be able again to 

 produce offspring like itself. All our varieties will 

 breed freely, and a first cross is usually a very ro- 

 bust strong-constitutioned animal; but then we 

 must stop : the form cannot be continued. For 

 instance, a cross between a Shorthorn bull and 

 Ayrshire cow produces a handsome robust beast, 

 showing externally the Shorthorn character — most 

 excellent for the dairy, and afterwards for the 

 butcher; in fact, a kind of intermediate animal, and 

 so symmetrical and profitable that we would like 

 to continue the race as a new breed ; but we find 

 that we cannot, for she will not produce offspring 

 like herself, even though paired with a mate of a 

 similar cross to herself. Breed with such for seve- 

 ral generations until you have a large herd, and 

 you will find that you have a mixed degenerate lot 

 of mongrels, some of them crying back to the 

 Shorthorn side, and some to the Ayrshire, and not 



two alike among them. Try the same experimpn 

 with a cross between the Shorthorn and Hereford 

 or Devon, and the result will be the same, but 

 even more striking, as there is a wider difference 

 between the breeds of the original parents. Thus 

 there is a permanency in our varieties or breeds. 

 They will mix in a first cross, but not blend, if I 

 may so speak, for in the next generation they will 

 begin to separate. If it were not so, the distinctive 

 character of varieties would be soon lost — they 

 would become extinct. As we do not find varieties 

 in any species of our wild animals, it becomes clear 

 that the varieties into which every species of our 

 domestic animals have branched must be the result 

 of the altered circumstances of food, climate, &c., 

 to which domestication subjects them. But the 

 change or variation is the work of nature, not the 

 work of man, who does not know what variation 

 takes place until he sees it; but when he does ob- 

 serve the variation, he is able to cultivate it, and 

 bring it out to its fullest extent by judicious selec- 

 tion and pairing. For instance, the Blue Rock 

 dove, from which all the varieties of our domestic 

 pigeons are derived, never alters or varies in its 

 wild state, but under the influences of domestica- 

 tion, it has run into many varieties. Take one of 

 these (the fantail pigeon) as an example : — Man 

 would observe in some individuals, a disposition to 

 that fan-like development of the tail, which being 

 elegant (for the forms exhibited by nature under 

 improving circumstances are always beautiful) he 

 would try to perpetuate, and by selection and pair- 

 ing, he would cultivate it to its fullest extent. For 

 two of these, in which this development was largest, 

 being paired, their offspring would exhibit the 

 desired peculiarity of tail still more fully, and by fol- 

 lowing the same course the greater excellence in 

 that particular would be attained. So with the 

 carrier pigeon as to its peculiarities, and the pouter 

 as to its large development of croj). But if the 

 amateur pigeon-fancier designed to produce a new 

 variety between two of these, he could not do it. 

 Thus we see that species, under the altered circum- 

 stances of domestication, will develop itself in 

 various forms or varieties, which we may cultivate 

 to great perfection, but we cannot alter them. We 

 may mix them by cross-breeding, but they will not 

 remain so, but go back again to the original form. 

 Tills we may, in some measure, trace ; look at the 

 mixed (mongrel) fowls in our farm-yards, the dogs 

 about our streets, or cattle in our fairs, and we 

 may appoint each individual of them to the breed 

 from which it originally sprung, and I believe that 

 the whole of them might, by careful selection and 

 pairing, be bred back again into their original varie- 

 ties. There have been many speculations as to the 

 origin of the Shorthorn variety of cattle, and also how 

 their improvement was eflfected. Youatt, in his 

 invaluable work on cattle, says, " No doubt can be 

 entertained that they originated from a judicious 

 crossing with other breeds ;" but surely if such a 

 system had been practised, we should have heard 

 something of it, I am quite convinced that our 

 native breeds, such as the Shorthorns, Herefords, 

 Devon s, and our own blacks, are pure varieties of 

 nature's own forming, and that they have been im- 

 proved by man in the several localities in which 



