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for their treatment Tvould be more likelj to do harm than be a 

 benefit. 



In regard to the improvement of the breeds of domestic animals^ I 

 shall confine myself to a few general remarks, descriptive of their 

 properties, and of the mode of crossing to be observed in breeding ; 

 and in so doing, I aim especially to excite discussion and rouse 

 attention. When you consider the immense amount of property 

 invested in domestic animals throughout this vast country, you will 

 readily admit the importance of the subject. 



AVe will begin with the horse. He is long in coming to maturity, 

 is liable to many accidents, and very often disappoints the hopes of 

 his owner when he arrives at a salable age ; and these may be 

 traced to a want of knowledge in breeding. Bakewell's motto — 

 " like produces like " — is found to be true, and, therefore, it 

 follows that it is folly to breed from any but sound and perfect 

 animals. If we desire to get rid of the races that eat more than 

 they can earn in value, we must be guided by this rule. But we 

 knov/ that mares, for instance, are selected to breed from, which are 

 good for nothing else : as they can earn nothing, by reason of their 

 infirmities, they are made to breed, and thus the mare transmits her 

 diseases and her worthlessness to her ofispring. In this way a breed 

 originally good may deteriorate, so as to be good for nothing, and 

 the breeder finds, instead of profit, he has been a great loser. 



Another common error is the breeding from a favorite mare, 

 without any consideration of her qualities as a brood mare. She 

 may be good for work, and yet be unfit for a breeder. And, if her 

 vital functions are impaired by a long life of toil, she is incapable of 

 having a sound and healthy ofispring. You cannot have a valuable 

 offspring from an undersized, worn-out, and misshapen dam, how- 

 ever useful a servant she may have proved. Another error is, that 

 of crossing between a sire and dam of opposite descriptions and char- 

 acter, without regard to the kind of animal sought to be produced. 

 Fancy should, in such cases, be governed by judgment, or we 

 shall produce an animal which is a mongrel nondescript : neither 

 saddle horse, nor carriage horse, nor hack, nor team horse. So 

 we see that the parents should not only be as perfect as can be 

 found, but be well assorted in the crossing ; for if one has an ex- 

 cellence, and the other a counteracting defect, we may not expect 



