546 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA, 



as the pedigrees of their most noted animals show. Miles tells 

 of the calculations of Rev. J. Stone, which show " Crown Prince 

 is 1055 times descended from Favorite, and Red Rose, by Har- 

 binger, is descended 1344 times. So the produce of the two are 

 descended from him 2399 times/' The Hereford Cattle are now 

 coming into notice as a most hardy breed, yet Mr. Tompkins 

 asserts that he has bred his herd "in-and-in for upwards of 

 eighty years." We quote the above as an extreme case, and 

 yet the cattle of the breed whose type has been so fixed are 

 noted for strength and vigor of constitution. 



In-and-in Breeding a Necessity We might also 

 show from the breeding of many of our most noted horses that 

 are rich in the blood of some noted ancestor. The sire and 

 dam of Abdallah were both by Messenger; so the sire and dam 

 of Hambletonian. " The effect of breeding blood-relations to- 

 gether has been much discussed. Physiologists condemn the 

 practice among human beings, while breeders of live-stock have 

 approved it among all domestic animals so far as is necessary to 

 fix a type." 



Stonehenge says : " When any new breed of animals is first 

 introduced, in-and-in breeding can scarcely be avoided." In his 

 British Rural Sports he gives a series of examples of breeding, 

 and then concludes, "that in-and-in breeding carried out once or 

 twice, is not only not a bad practice, but is likely to be attended 

 with good results. Let one ask what horses have been the 

 most remarkable of late years as stallions, and with very few 

 exceptions he will find they were considerably in-bred." 



In-and-in breeding, however, is not to be encouraged among 

 men not thoroughly versed in the lines of breeding and the art 

 of selecting and mating. 



General Principles of Breeding. As this work is to 

 go into the hands of farmers who breed all kinds of domestic 

 animals, it may be well here to insert the " general principles of 

 breeding," as presented by Stonehenge. 



1. "The union of the sexes is, in all the higher animals, 

 necessary for reproduction; the male and female each taking 

 their respective share." 



