CHAPTER XVII. 



SELECTION. 



THE intelligent breeder will make a rigorous se- 

 lection of breeding-stock in accordance with a well- 

 defined and consistent standard of excellence. 



"When Lord Rivers was asked how he succeeded 

 in breeding such fine greyhounds, he replied, " I 

 breed many, and hang many." 



The writer asked the late Edwin Hammond what 

 proportion of the rams bred by himself he would be 

 willing to use in his own flock, and he answered, 

 promptly, " Not one in three hundred." 



Mr. Dickson, in his remarks on " Selection," says, 

 " He will prove himself the most successful breeder 

 who can select with the most correct judgment;" 8 

 and it is undoubtedly true that the success of the 

 masters of the art, who have made our improved 

 breeds what they are, has been largely the result of 

 the extraordinary judgment and skill with which they 

 made their selections. 



Aside from the agencies that are made use of in 

 improving the qualities of animals, which have been 

 pointed out in the chapter on " Variation," the art of 



1 Gardener's Chronicle, 1853, p. 45. 



8 Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. vii., p. 248. 



