BREEDING. 309 



nislies the vivifying principle (the pollen) to the egg (the 

 ovum) of the female, while the female furnishes the nutriment 

 of the embryo animal from her own secretions, we would nat- 

 urally expect the offspring to partake more of the qualities of 

 the female than of the male. And this fact shows that the se- 

 lection of a mare to breed from is of more importance than 

 the selection of the horse to breed to — a truth which seems 

 to have been almost entirely overlooked, practically, at least, 

 m this country. For we find that farmers, as a general thing, 

 instead of breeding their best mares, keep them for labor, and 

 breed those which are unfit for labor on account of their age, 

 their viciousness, or even their positively diseased condition. 

 Hence, although very good stallions are to be found in every 

 part of our country, at least four-fifths of all our horses bear 

 evident marks of hereditary disease, malformation, or vicious- 

 ness. Though the defects of the parents may not appear in 

 the immediate progeny, they will most certainly be found in 

 the second generation. From the foregoing considerations we 

 may deduce the following important points to be observed in 

 breeding: 



First: The mare should be selected from a stock known to 

 be suited to the purpose for which it is proposed to breed. 

 She should be of proper age and size, well formed, of good 

 color, proper gait, and free from any disease or malformation, 

 or any hereditary taint. 



Second : Select a stallion of good blood, but not of near kin 

 to the mare, which will be as nearly as possible a perfect com- 

 plement to the mare; by which it is meant that if she is defi- 

 cient in any point, this shall be remedied by his peculiar 

 excellence in the same point. 



Third: It is more important that the ancestry of the mare 

 should be known to be healthy and of good stock than that 

 the same should be known of those of the stallion ; for, al- 

 though some mares breed after the horse, I believe that it may 

 be truly stated that three-fourths breed after their own stock. 



