86 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



even they should not be retained for breeding. The com- 

 mon saying that such animals should be retained for breed- 

 ing as long as they are capable of breeding, is not quite true. 

 Can any instances be cited in which animals that became not- 

 ed performers were forgotten when. decadence from age had 

 become considerably advanced ? The tearing of what has 

 been said upon profitable feeding will be at once apparent. 



Development and inferiority. Howsoever excellent 

 the management of a stud, herd or flock may be, and how- 

 soever skillful the breeding, some animals will be born into 

 it with inferior development and also with capacity for 

 development below the average of the breed. In some in- 

 stances this happens in the case of animals from the same 

 sire and dam which have previously produced specimens of 

 great excellence. This is the outcome of the operation of 

 that second law of breeding known as the law of variation. 



All the reasons for such contrasts may never be fully 

 known, but doubtless they are prenatal. They may be 

 influenced by the condition of the sire or dam, or both, at 

 the time of mating, with reference to condition as to flesh, 

 the food which has produced it, and the degree of vigor 

 possessed. They may also be influenced by the food given 

 to the dam during pregnancy as to quantity and quality, 

 by the exercise given or withheld, and by the performance 

 required in furnishing labor or milk. That other influences 

 are operative, however, is apparent from the fact that 

 marked variations occur in the progeny of the same parents 

 when all the conditions are as uniform as the breeder can 

 make them. The assertion is safe, notwithstanding, that 

 the number of the instances in which such inferior produc- 

 tion appears is few relatively in approximate proportion as 

 the breeding and management are correct. 



The true destiny of such animals is the block and at an 

 early age. If retained or sold for breeding, they are pretty 

 certain to aid in transmitting inferiority. If grown for meat 

 until maturity, the production will be less profitable than 

 from animals of normal or superior excellence. But decision 



