192 SELECTION. 



eliminate as far as possible the influence of non-genetic develop- 

 mental factors upon the choice of the best family. The sys- 

 tem of selection of wheat and oats, which consists of a compar- 

 ison of the progeny of a great number of individual plants 

 and which was originated by Louis de Vilmorin is more than 

 half-a-century old. 



The animal breeders have been more slow to see the import- 

 ance of judging an individual according to his get, rather than 

 according to his individual merits, although the breeders of 

 horses have always recognized the merits of individual sires 

 as stock-getters, and patronized them accordingly. In compari- 

 son with plants, these domestic animals represent such a much 

 greater value, and they have so much more importance as 

 individuals, that this cannot surprise us. 



It seems so obvious, that a bull of a breed of milk cattle is 

 kept solely as a producer of good daughters, that the idea of 

 Solomon Hoxey of inscribing bulls in a special Register of 

 Merit, if they have produced a certain number of daughters of 

 outstanding merit, would be thought to appeal at once to the 

 breeders. And yet, we find important breeder's associations 

 which judge bulls wholly according to their external charac- 

 ters — according to individual type. 



Often enough, one can meet the old conception of heredity as 

 the transmission of characters from parent to off-spring, in 

 warnings against the use of breeding animals at a time when 

 their indidivual characters are not at their best. Rabbit-breed- 

 ers firmly believe that the use of a male for breeding at the 

 time when he is moulting, is fatal to the quality of the coat of 

 his olf-spring. We have witnessed an instance, in which the 

 official permit necessary for use as a stud was refused to a stal- 

 lion, because the animal was lame, whereas the committee who 

 did the judging, had witnessed the accident which resulted in 

 the lameness. 



It is evident that there is an inducement to judge an animal 

 according to his individual merit, namely that this procedure 

 saves trouble and time. 





