THE HORSE BREEDING. 587 



other hand, older cows in their full vigor have produced a larger 

 per cent of females. The facts collected at the Agricultural 

 College at Grignon and at the Agricultural Institute of Hohen- 

 heim point that way. Fluet says, " If you put a cow that has 

 recently calved, while still rather feeble, to a vigorous bull, the 

 product will almost invariably be a male." 



To breeders of high-bred animals, the solution of this yet un- 

 solved problem is one of vast importance. If we could control 

 the sex with any degree of surety or safety, we could realize 

 greater profits from our ability to meet the demands of trade. 

 Among Jersey cattle, for example, we should desire only enough 

 males to keep up the stock, and would have heifer calves, whose 

 average value will ever be more than ten-fold that of the average 

 bull calf. Owners of breeding establishments usually prefer the 

 foal to be a female, especially if production of a favorite family 

 be desired. It is certain that, as yet, science has no solution of 

 this question, about which many superficial observers have 

 claimed to have a certain rule by which they can control the sex 

 of coming colts. 



Importance of First Impregnation. The influence of 

 the male upon the female is so marked and far-reaching that we 

 may profitably consider the importance of the first impregnation. 

 This influence is not limited to the offspring of the first sire, but 

 to the young begotten by sires years afterwards on the same fe- 

 male. This paradoxical statement is supported by so many un- 

 equivocal cases of mares, cows, ewes, and sows that its discus- 

 sion must be of value to all breeders of good stock. 



We can not take the space to cite a fraction of the many re- 

 corded instances in proof. In 1815, a seven-eighths Arabian 

 mare, chestnut, belonging to Earl of Morton, was covered by a 

 quagga, a species of zebra. The foal resembled the sire in color 

 and markings. The same seven-eights Arabian mare was after- 

 wards twice bred to a black Arabian stallion owned by Sir Gore 

 Ousley. The two colts by the black Arabian " were partially 

 dun colored and were striped on the legs more plainly than the 

 real hybrid or even than the quagga," says Darwin. The same 

 distinguished authority adds : " One of the colts had its neck and 



