ioo POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE 



same useful work in connexion with living animals ? But there 

 is much to be done in preparation for this final effort at improve- 

 ment. We have no very clear idea of why one animal is good, 

 and another bad, for a certain purpose. By selection of those 

 animals which seemed good for their requirements the breeders 

 of the past have made a very considerable advance towards 

 perfection. If we made it certain that all our husbandmen 

 produced only the best of what we already possess we should 

 have obtained a very great deal; it may be that this would be 

 the best standard to aim at in the immediate future. But, on 

 the other hand, there are so many imperfections in the dual- 

 purpose animal of the present day that it would seem folly 

 to neglect such future possibilities as might accrue from in- 

 vestigating the wonderful laws which Mendel first brought to 

 the notice of science. For instance, it is generally held tha{ the 

 carcase of meat obtained from an animal belonging to one of 

 the pure-beef breeds is more useful to the butcher than that 

 obtained from an animal of a variety that has been selected 

 through many generations for deep-milking qualities ; and this 

 notwithstanding that the breeders of deep-milking cattle had 

 sought by all means in their power to breed with a view to good 

 fleshing qualities as well. The new science of genetics might 

 help us to combine the best beef-production with the most 

 valuable yield of milk in the same animal ; but before this can 

 be done it would appear to be essential to know what are the 

 characteristics of a good carcase and what factors determine 

 them. For some years I have sought in vain for information 

 on this point. Empirical opinion seems to guide the trade into 

 certain channels along which a selection is made, but nothing 

 definite enough has been established to enable a research- 

 worker even to start a definite line of improvement. As to the 

 part the skeletal structure, the quality of bone, the development 

 of certain muscles the quality of muscle fibre, the proportion, 

 quality and manner of depositing fat, all play in providing a 

 good or bad carcase there is no information on which to work. 

 Apparently the very essence of the whole subject, the question 

 of what is good and what is not so good, has been simply a 

 matter of opinion, or even fancy, on the part of the individual, 



