396 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BPvEEDING. 



the character of his offspring : the bulls, which were 

 uniformly good, seemed to inherit the qualities of 

 their grandsire, Grand Duke (10284), a superior ani- 

 mal ; while the heifers, which were not so good, re- 

 sembled their grandam. Duchess of Athol, the dam 

 of Duke of Airdrie (12730), was a superior animal, 

 and an excellent breeder. 



Duke of Airdrie proved a good getter of both 

 males and females, the defects of his sire having been 

 apparently supplemented by the good qualities of his 

 dam, although they were closely related, so that his 

 inherited qualities were fully in equilibrium. 



From the practical difficulty of making selections 

 with reference to peculiarities that would properly 

 supplement each other, it has been proposed to select 

 animals that resemble each other closely in the essen- 

 tial or constant characters of the family, but that differ 

 in the variable or non-essential characters : as, for in- 

 stance, in the Short-Horns a difference in the color 

 of the parents, that are alike in other particulars, may 

 aid in restoring an impaired condition of the procrea- 

 tive functions by supplementing the divergent char- 

 acters. 



" 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 show themselves, sooner 

 or later, in the progeny ; it is for this reason that we 

 should not breed from an animal, however excellent, 

 unless we can ascertain it to be what is called well 

 fired, that is, descended from a race of ancestors who 

 have, through several generations, possessed in a 



