538 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



most likely to perform to the satisfaction of his owner on the 

 race-course. On this principle the proverb has been framed and 

 handed down to us, that * an ounce of blood is worth a pound of 

 bone.' The same able author, however, would not allow this re- 

 mark to go without the limitation : ' but there must also be a 

 fnnne of the most useful character, if not always of the most 

 elegant form.' " 



Breeding Back or Atavism. The persistency of the 

 law of heredity is seen in the constant tendency of animals to 

 breed back to some remote ancestor. Here is the discouraging 

 feature to every man who would found or improve a newly 

 founded breed of horses, cattle, or swine. The race-horse has 

 been prized as a foundation for trotting-blood. It gave life, 

 pluck, and staying qualities to the produce, qualities so essential 

 in the generation of trotters. But with these came the tendency 

 to break into a run, when the contest is hardest. 



Breeding for Color of Short-horn Cattle. The 

 breeders of the fashionable red short-horn cattle have found a 

 constant liability of even their most fashionably bred cattle to 

 drop roan, or red and white, or even white calves, although dam 

 and sire might both be of solid red color. The early breeders 

 of short-horn cattle on the Valley of the Tees were intent first 

 on developing form and quality, and the color was a minor point. 

 After generations of careful breeding for quality and form, they 

 began to attempt fixing the color. Here was a new factor, and 

 the breeder seeking to fix it must not lose sight of the royal 

 ancestral lines which gave the superior qualities to the short- 

 horn breed. To secure the greatest number of good calves they 

 soon learned that the ancestor having the greatest number of 

 best crosses gave the largest per cent of desirable calves; and 

 yet, there was in all the working for the red color an ever re- 

 curring tendency to breed back to the now unfashionable colors 

 of some grand old ancestors. 



Breeding for Color of Berkshire Swine. The swine 

 breeders find the same law at work among their breeds. The 

 Berkshire men find occasionally some pigs with a rusty or sandy 

 spot appearing among the litters, which so generally are marked 



