196 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



the points it is desirable to perpetuate than the pure- 

 bred stallions that are within reach. 



The cross of the pure-bred stallion upon mares of 

 mixed blood is not, then, to be recommended if the 

 stallion is inferior in its characters ; and the general 

 rule of breeding, to which there are no exceptions, 

 that the best males it is possible to obtain should only 

 be used, becomes the guide in practice. 



In an article " On Cross-Breeding Cattle," Mr. 

 Murray says : " The importance of using, even for cross- 

 breeding, none but first-class bulls, can hardly be suf- 

 ficiently insisted upon. Indeed, the marked success 

 which has attended the use of Short-Horn bulls may 

 be attributed not less to their established position than 

 to the intrinsic merits of the race ; " 1 and he adds, 

 " We are fully convinced that, even for the purpose 

 of cross-breeding, the purer the blood on the paternal 

 side, the more clearly will excellence be stamped on 

 the progeny." The same writer attributes the failure, 

 in cases of unsuccessful crossing, to the use of inferior 

 bulls that were not able to impress any superior quali- 

 ties upon their offspring. 8 



Short-Horn bulls have, undoubtedly, been more 

 extensively used in crossing other breeds than any 

 others ; but, when the cross has been successful, it can 

 ouly be attributed to the higher breeding and superi- 

 ority of the typical characters of such bulls, which 

 enabled them to stamp their peculiarities upon the 

 carelessly-bred stock they were selected to improve. 3 



1 Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 1866, p. 53. 



8 Loc. cit., pp. 53, 54. 



3 Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. xxiii., p. 351. 



