1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



409 



for ihe purpose of grazing. The first of these 

 classes is very well aware of (he importance of 

 eelectiiig gooil male animals, and profess lo spare 

 no troulilc and to be very indifferent as to the ex- 

 pense which tiiey incur in ol)taining tlien) ; hut 

 with respect to those whose object it is only to 

 breed oxen or weiiiers, I ani al'raid the case !« 

 generally very different, and they tai<e very little 

 trouble and exjiend as little money as possible in 

 procuring the male animals !o which they put 

 their li»nvales ; that is, they consider as a matter ol 

 iijilill'erence that on which the profitable or unpro- 

 tiialile nature of their 0(U'upaiion mainly depem's. 

 It is adiniiied by every one that the bodily and 

 consiil(iiional (jualnies ol' the oflspring are usually 

 similar to those of the parents, either combining 

 in various proportions the qualities of both parents, 

 or taking eniirely after one. I should say, as res- 

 pects cattle and sheep, that, in mn>t cases, the 

 fjualiiies of the male parent predominate in the 

 ori'spring. I have also observed tliat Ihe worse 

 bred the female is, the more will this be the case 

 wlicn she is put to a well bred male. This obser- 

 vation was first made, I believe, by the late Mr. 

 Berry, in an essay, lor which he received a prize 

 from the Highland Society. He accounted for it 

 thus : a well bred animal means one whose ances- 

 tors (Ijr several generations have all been good, 

 Ihat is, have all possessed the peculiarities in con- 

 stitution and shape which it is the object of ex- 

 perienced graziers to obtain in their stock. The 

 characteristic, therefore, of the family of such an 

 animal will be such peculiarities; but the ancesto.s 

 of a ba<lly bred animal will probably have varied 

 in every possible way, and tlierefore there will 

 be no distinguishing cliaracleristic in itvS family; 

 it is consequently most probable ihaf the offspring 

 produced from a cross between two animals so cir- 

 circumstanced will be more like the one in whose 

 family there is a dislinauishingcharacteristic, than 

 the one in whose finiily no such characteristic 

 exists. The common, but I bc;ie^.'e, mistaken 

 notion, that the offspring frotn the first cross is bet- 

 ter than that from any subsequent one, probably 

 arises Irom the improvement in the first instance 

 being so much more apparent then, for the reason 

 given above, it is likely to be in any generation 

 afterwards. Now it is known to all graziers that 

 the attempt to fatten an animal, who possesses no 

 feeding propensities, produces loss instead of pro- 

 fit. If the above observations are correct, the ; 

 feeding propensities descend fi"om the sire; it is 

 quite just, therefore, to say that a breeder of cat- 

 tle or sheep, who considers it a matter of indiffer- 

 ence what sort of male animal he uses, dees coti- | 

 sider it a matter of indifference vvliether lie gains 

 profit or iiicuis loss. i 



The first object which any breeder of cattle or 

 sheep must keep in view, whetlier he intends to ! 

 breed bulls or rams, or whether his aim is merely 

 to breed oxen or wethers, is lliat the stock which 

 he breeds shall be healthy. The first thing, 

 therelijre, to be considered in the selection ol a 

 male animal are the indications by which it uiay 

 be possible to Ibnn a judgment as to his constitu- 

 tion. In all animals a wide chest imlicat s 

 sirenmh of constitution, and there can be no doubt 

 tliat this is the point of shape to which it is tnosr 

 material for any breeder to look in the selection 

 etther ol' a bull or a ram. in order to ascerltnn 

 that the chest of tiieee anitualo is wide, it is not 

 Vol. VII -52 



sufficient to observe tliat they have wide bosomsj 

 but the width which is perceived by looking at 

 them in the front should lie continued along the 

 brisket, which ouirht to show great liilness in the 

 part which is just under the elbows; it is aiso ne- 

 cessary that they should be wliar is called thick 

 through the heart. Another indication of a good 

 constitution is, that a male animal should have a 

 masculine appearance; with this view a certain 

 degree of coarseness is liy no means objectionable, 

 but this coarseness should not be such as would 

 be likely to show itself in a castrated animal, be- 

 cause it thus might happen that the oxen or wethers 

 produced fiom such a sire would be coarse n'^^o, 

 which in them would be a fault. Another point 

 to be attended to, not merely as an indication of a 

 good constitution, but as a merit in itself', is that 

 an animal should exhibit great muscular power, 

 or rather that his muscles should be large. This 

 is an usual accompaniment of strength of consti- 

 tution, but it also shows that there will be a good 

 proportionate mixture of lean and fat in the meat 

 produced from ihe animal : the muscles being that 

 part which in meat is lean. A thick neck is in 

 both bulls and rams a p!"oof of the musclfes being 

 large, and there can hardly be a greater fault in 

 the shape of a male animal, of either sort, than 

 his having a thin neck. I am inclined to say, 

 that in the new Leicester breed of sheep, which 

 is the breed to which I am accustomed, a ram's 

 neck cannot be too thick. Other indications of 

 muscle are more difficult to observe in sheep than 

 in cattle. In a bull there ought to be a full mus- 

 cle on each side of the back bone ; he ought also 

 to have the muscles on the outside of the thigh 

 full, and extending down nearly to the hough. It 

 will seldom happen that a bull having these indi- 

 cations will be found deficient in muscle. With 

 respect to rams, my own observation does nol 

 enable me to point out any other indications oC 

 muscle except the thickness of the neck, which I 

 have mentioned above ; if other farmers are able 

 to point out any, I would only say there is scarcely 

 any thing to which they ought lo pay greater at- 

 tention. 



As 1 am writing for the use of farmers, it is 

 quite unnecessary lor me to attempt to give a 

 description of what is considered a well shaped 

 bull or ram ; it is also obviously impossible to 

 to express in words what is meant by good hand- 

 ling. It is sufficient to say, therefore, that no 

 male animal is fit to be used at all as a sire whose 

 handling is not good, and that the more perfect 

 his shape is the better. 'J'he above observations 

 apply to breeding generally; for whatever may 

 be the sort or size of the animal intended to be 

 produced, there i§ no tloubt but that good health, 

 [iropensity to fatten, and good shape, in all cases, 

 ought to be aimeii at. But there are nut only dif- 

 lerent breeds, both of cattle and sheep, but expe- 

 rienced and very good linniers diffier very much 

 in opinion as to which peculiarities of shape 

 arwl size are to be nrrlerred, even among ani- 

 tnals of the same breed. It is, therefore, very 

 desirable before any nian commen ces to breed 

 either cattle or sheep, that he sliould make up 

 bis mind as'to llie shape and qualities lie wishes 

 in obta-tn, and steadily pursue this object; if he 

 does so, there is very little doubt but that he 

 will succeed in having a herd of cattle or sheep 

 possessing the characteristics which he at fint 



