BREEDING. 157 



Such characters, if not inbred, might be inherited, 

 and make their appearance at intervals, as in the case 

 of what are called accidental characters, which are 

 not likely to be transmitted in a dominant form, but 

 they would not beAne family characteristics. 



In the breedin|^f animals, the parent that ap- 

 parently exercises i^ greatest influence upon the 

 dominant characters of the offspring is said to be 

 prepotent. 



When certain desirable characters have been de- 

 veloped, in a few individuals, they can only be in- 

 grafted upon the entire flock, or herd, by making 

 them the dominant characters of the males that are 

 to be used, and securing in them prepotency in their 

 transmission. 



As the male practically represents one-half of the 

 breeding flock or herd, prepotency in the transmission 

 of his better qualities is one of the most valuable char- 

 acteristics he can possess. 



In the cases of marked prepotency, in which the 

 ancestral history of the animals can be traced, in-and- 

 in breeding has been so generally practised that we 

 cannot avoid the conclusion that the one is dependent 

 upon the other. 



If the male is more highly-bred than the females 

 with which he is coupled, a greater uniformity in the 

 offspring will be obtained through the predominance 

 of his characteristics. 



The great demand for high-bred males, by the best 

 breeders of all classes of stock, is the cause of the pre- 

 vailing high prices of animals belonging to the most 

 fashionable families. 



