298 BREEDING 



dam, he will doubless count for most in the characteristics of the offspring; 

 but a sire, however good, can no more make up for want of quality in the 

 dam than good seed can yield a good return regardless of the nature of the 

 soil in which it is sown. To begin with, it is quite as important that the 

 germ cell provided by the dam should be as perfect in every respect as the 

 infinitely smaller sperm cell supplied by the sire. Further, unless before 

 development begins there is stored up an abundant supply of the material 

 needed for the developing embryo, and unless all through the period of 

 gestation the food contains the ingredients requisite for building up the 

 bones and other tissues of the developing foal, the result must of necessity 

 prove disappointing. However perfect the sire, he can no more assist in 

 providing nourishment or suitable conditions during development than he 

 can assist in ministering to the wants of the foal after birth. 



But the enquiry as to the rate of growth of the foal mainly shows that 

 from the sixth week of development there is an ever-increasing demand 

 for bone-forming material. This demand, great enough during the later 

 months of gestation, is especially urgent during the first three months 

 after birth; I might almost say during the first five months, for it is 

 during this period that the growth of the bones mainly takes place. It 

 may hence be said that, with the help of the information submitted, the 

 breeder should be better able so to regulate the food of his brood mares 

 that an abundant supply of bone-forming material will be available not 

 only during, but for some months after, gestation, and will be in a position 

 so to treat his colts during their first two years that they may reach either 

 a maximum, an average, or a small size, and, whatever the size, will be 

 provided with the best possible chance of forming large ivory-like bones, 

 and, what is perhaps of equal importance, strong ligaments and tendons 

 capable of withstanding sudden jars and strains. 



