BLENDING AND SORTING 129 



four of their progeny being red, as may be seen 

 from this Mendelian scheme — 



^X^ may produce g. ^. g» or ^• 



The white markings of the Longhorn are 

 dominant to black on the same parts of the 

 animal, and, being always visible, were easily 

 eliminated. So far as our present knowledge 

 goes, the white flecks seem to have been 

 recessive characters, which again would account 

 for the difficulty of breeding them out. 



But perhaps the most important character 

 which the Aberdeen-Angus cattle received from 

 other races is their size. Crossed again and 

 again by larger breeds, they eventually became 

 as large as the cattle by which they were crossed. 

 Whether the first crosses were intermediate or 

 masquerading hybrids is not absolutely clear, 

 but in any case, the initial crossing and the con- 

 tinued selection of the larger animals for breeding 

 purposes resulted in a small breed being con- 

 verted into a large one. The following quota- 

 tion,^ part of which is irrelevant as regards size 



* When red cattle were bred with duns, the hybrids of light 

 dun and black, they produced blacks and yellows, thus — 



rXl S'^^^ B^black), and J (yellow). 



2 A part of this communication was quoted in the chapter on 

 the Norse Cattle. 



K 



