GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF BRKEUINO. 



direction will be likely to defeat its own perpetuation. The results 

 commonly depend upon a variation in individual power. The an- 

 cestry of parents must be observed. Miles, in his " Stock Breeding," 

 concludes his view of this question of parental influence by saying: 

 k The relative influence of parents upon the offspring evidently 

 depends upon conditions that cannot in all cases be determined. 

 When the characteristics of one parent have been fixed by the 

 inheritance of the same peculiarities for many generations, it will 

 undoubtedly prove to be prepotent in the transmission of its charac- 

 ters, if the other parent has a less stable organization; but this 

 will not prevent the inheritance of the peculiarities that are not 

 included in the dominant characteristics." 



Cross-Breeding This is uniting the blood of animals 

 which are of distinct breeds within a species. Its advantages have 

 been the theme of many writers. When there is an express object 

 in view, it is undoubtedly a very desirable practice. But benefits 

 which flow from it are not always to be attributed to the breeding 

 itself. Among cattle, sheep and hogs the value of cross-breeding is 

 apparent particularly for the enhancement qf the price which the 

 stock will bring in the butcher's market, and in this regard it may 

 be well to dwell upon the good results which will arise from careful 

 attention to the practice. Pure bred short-horns, Herefords and 

 Devons possess a tendency towards fattening rapidly, and when 

 these breeds are crossed with the common stock of the country, called 

 " natives," this peculiarity is inherited, and benefit is derived by 

 improving the fattening power of the former for the butcher, and 

 lessening the excessive tendency to fat in the latter, and thus 

 improving it for the dairy. Cross-breeding of sheep also entails the 

 same benefits, as a cross between the Lincoln and Leicester sheep will 

 improve the size, the quantity of the wool and the quality of the 

 mutton, and although the distinguishing propensity of the pure-bred 

 Leicester to fatten at an early age is somewhat changed, the greater 

 admixture of lean mutton more than compensates for this by giv- 

 ing a superior value to the carcass. In crossing thoroughbred pigs 

 with common stock there is produced through its improvement of 

 the ordinary stock the most profitable of marketable swine for the 

 purpose of food. Thus thoroughbred boars will add immensely to 

 the swine -breeder's profits. Successful breeding of early lambs can 

 be accomplished by crossing well-bred rams with ordinary ewes. 

 The Southdowns are best for this purposes, the offspring fattening 

 rapidly, and thus being ready for the early market. The ewes 

 selected should be good breeders, and good feeders, and healthy 

 animals. 



Parents Should Exhibit the Points Desired in 

 Offspring All writers upon cross-breeding insist upon having 

 the parent animal show the characteristics desired for transmission, 

 whether it be the male or female of pure blood, and all agree that 

 wisdom demands the careful selection of a pure- bred male. The 



