ON BREEDING. 213 



have done all that is necessary to establish and to continue a 

 good breed ; but this is by no means the case, 



"Were I to define what is called the art of breeding, I should 

 say that it consisted in the selection of males and females, 

 intended to breed together, in reference to each other's merits 

 and defects. 



"It is not always by putting the best male to the best female, 

 that the best produce will be obtained; for, should they both 

 have a tendency to the same defect, although in ever so slight a 

 degree, it will, in general, preponderate so much in the produce 

 as to render it of little value. 



"A breed of animals may be said to be improved when any 

 desired quality has been* increased by art, beyond what that qual- 

 ity was in the same breed in a state of nature; the swiftness of 

 the race-horse, the propensity to fatten in cattle, and the fine 

 wool in sheep, are improvements which have been made in par- 

 ticular varieties of the species to which these animals belong. 

 What has been produced by art must be continued by the same 

 means, for the most improved breeds will soon return to a state 

 of nature, or perhaps defects will arise, which did not exist when 

 the breed was in its natural state, unless the greatest attention is 

 paid to the selection of the individuals who are to breed together. 



"We must observe the smallest tendency to imperfection in 

 our stock, the moment it appears, so as to be able to counteract 

 it before it becomes a defect ; as a rope-dancer, to preserve his 

 equilibrium, must collect the balance before it has gone too far, 

 and then not by such a motion as will incline it too much to the 

 opposite side. 



"The breeder's success will depend entirely upon the degree 

 in which he may happen to possess this particular talent. 



" Regard should not only be paid to the qualities apparent in 

 animals, selected for breeding, but to those which have prevailed 

 in the race from which they are descended, as they will always 



