HORSE BREEDING. 1299 



value cf the products and the profits that may be derived from them. 

 The relative value of animals depends upon their adaptation to a partic- 

 ular purpose, and the returns they make for expense incurred and food 

 consumed. The man who contemplates breeding horses for profit should 

 carefully study the "Laws of Breeding." He must recognize that re- 

 production is governed by certain laws. There is no such thing as 

 chance in breeding. AH occurrences that appear as such can be ex- 

 plained if we are acquainted with the history of the sires and dams for 

 generations back. We will now mention a few of the principal laws of 

 breeding, some of which the breeder can control, others he cannot. 



I. The Law of Heredity or Similarity. 

 The greatest and strongest law of breeding is the law of heredity ol 

 similarity, or, in other words, "like begets like." But we have devia« 

 tions from this law which are often hard or impossible to explain. 

 The law is not absolute. It is necessary for the maintenance oi 

 species. In this respect it is absolute ; the law of variation is neces* 

 sary for the improvement thereof. Breeds have been improved and 

 new breeds developed by crossing. The law of heredity is so strong 

 that it teaches us to be careful in the selection of both sires and 

 dams for breeding purposes. It is claimed by many that the in- 

 tellectual and nervous points of the offspring are imparted to a greater 

 extent by the dam, and the external conformation and constitution 

 more by the sire. (This is a disputed point.) Not only are desir- 

 able qualities, as conformation, constitution, disposition, etc., trans- 

 mitted from the parent to the offspring, but also undesirable qualities, 

 and also diseases, or at least a tendency or hereditary predisposition to 

 diseases, such as ophthalmia, spavm, ringbone, and other bone diseases, 

 roars, heaves, chronic cough, etc. Youatt says there is scarcely a dis- 

 ease but is to a certain extent hereditary. If we accept these as facts, we 

 will readily perceive the importance of exercising great care in the selec- 

 tion of animals for breeding purposes — both sires and dams. Don't un- 

 dervalue the dam. One of the greatest mistakes often made is to breed 

 a mare that is worthless, or nearly so, expecting her to produce a good 

 foal. We often hear the expression, "That mare is not of much ac- 

 count, but she will do to breed." If the dam be inferior it is quite 

 unreasonable to expect the progeny to be a high-class animal, even 

 though the sire be a superior one. It goes without saying that a parent 

 cannot impart to her progeny qualities that she does not herself possess. 

 Another mistake often made is, a man has rather an inferior mare, and 

 he does not consider he is warranted in paying the necessary fee to 

 secure the services of a first-class stallion for her, and hence breeds her 



