84 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



that they were equal to or greater in strength than the dom- 

 inant law. You might take a cow that was giving a very 

 large amount of milk. The chances are that the daughters 

 from that cow never will equal the dam. Why ? Because of 

 the variation which has developed her from the normal — 

 the abnormal condition to which that cow has come so that 

 she can produce that enormous amount of milk. She has 

 " shot her bolt," to use the expression, and she can't produce 

 a calf that will equal her. It is an impossibility. 



A natural born stock breeder is essential to success, I be- 

 lieve. You can train men in some lines ; you can train a 

 stock breeder so he will improve, but he must have a love for 

 his business and lie must have the natural ability to see 

 things which, perhaps, to the average man, or to many at 

 least, are not visible at all. 



I want to say just a word on the matter of vigor. The 

 dairy cow to do her best ought not to travel over many acres 

 of land, but she needs to have access to plenty of good air and 

 sunlight, and should have a limited amount of exercise. 



There is one thought that occurs to me, which I think is 

 of importance to breeders of pure animals, and that is, the 

 fallacy of laying too much stress upon color. It was my for- 

 tune, or misfortune, a short time since to recommend a certain 

 Guernsey sire to a Guernsey breeder in this Commonwealth. 

 I didn't know that the man was going to buy it, but he asked 

 me if I knew where there was one, and I described one that 

 I recommended very highly, that had individual merit, — 

 the rich color of his skin, and his hoofs and horns; and his 

 ancestry was all right. A few months ago this man came to 

 me, and he said, " There have some brown hairs appeared 

 in 1 lie fare of that bull." Xow r , that is something that is 

 cropping out constantly among the Guernseys, to take them 

 for an illustration. Of course the Guernsey breeders don't 

 like that, and want to breed away from it; and if you have 

 any experience in breeding, you will see what a tremendous 

 cost to the usefulness of the breed must come with this elimi- 

 nation of the animals that present some few hairs or color 

 that is not endorsed by the Breeders' Association. I think 

 the time is not far distant when things of that sort will be 



