140 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



Practical Effect of Chance- Breeding . 



While the proper observance of fundamental laws and 

 conditions inevital)ly leads to lixed characteristics in the 

 animals bred, the violation of them leads to opposite results. 

 While " like" here " begets like," we must often look back 

 through several generations for the prototype of offspring. 

 In chance-breeding we may find every type of character- 

 istics peculiar to the race represented in the progenitors, at 

 no very remote distance from the offspring. As given char- 

 acteristics, either good or bad, may remain dormant through 

 several successive generations, and then re-appear, it is 

 obvious that no reliance can 1)e placed upon chance-bred 

 stock, where sire and dam are l)oth thus bred. There is 

 obviously no fixed character established by such breeding. 



Anomalous as it may seem, this want of fixed character 

 is a great advantage in the grading-u}) of dairy stock. A 

 well-l)red sire, ^vith strong })owers of transmission, when 

 coupled with dams thus irregularly l)red, will transmit his 

 own qualities to a much larger proportion of his progeny 

 than when coupled with pure-bred females of opposite char- 

 acteristics. 



By such a cross with well-bred Jersey sires, I can build 

 up a butter-producing herd of the Jersey type much more 

 readily than by a cross with full-blooded Holsteins or beef- 

 producing Herefords. And, also, when the Holstein type is 

 desired, Holstein sires would beget that tj^pe much more 

 readily by a cross with native stock, than with Jerseys or 

 Devons. With the latter, the fixed habit of transmission 

 must be I)roken down ; while with common stock there is 

 no such fixed habit to be overcome, and hence the sire gives 

 his own impress to a nuich larger proportion of his progeny. 



Selection. 

 But not to all ; and here comes in the next essential con- 

 dition of success, and it will apply to all herds, whether 

 blooded or grade. Judicious selection is next in importance 

 to skillful breeding. A rigid test must be applied to every 

 individual. There are certain external characteristics which 

 may guide us in the selection of dairy stock, but these can- 



