410 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 7 



inten led they should possess ; but if, on the other 

 hand, he breeds at one time with t!>e view ofob- 

 laiiimg uiiinials possessin<r one sort of shape, and 

 nt auMhertime with tiie view ol"ohiaininjr animals 

 possfsainii a ditterent sort of shape, the probability 

 is, that his stock will possess neither the one nor 

 the Oilier in any decree of |)ertection. Havinir 

 made this decision, he should lake care that the 

 uulividual male animal which he uses shall possess 

 the qualities which he requires. In addition t) 

 this, it is of threat importance that these qualities 

 should have been characteristic of the liiniily horn 

 which the animal is descended ; and if he is oUi 

 enouiih to have been the sire ol' any number ol' 

 offsprmiT, it is ofairreat deal more importance siill 

 that they should possess them. Because all the 

 perlections of shape and quality which the best 

 jiidi,'e may wish to find in a male anima! are, after 

 nil, "only indications ot what the stock got by him 

 will probably be ; the seeinu therefore, what they 

 real'y are ia much more satisfactory. 



There are few breeders of cattle more especially, 

 who breed upon so large a scale as to enable them 

 to keep many male animals at the same time in 

 use. A man therefore, cm usually look at the 

 general qualities of the lemales which he posses, 

 and observe what are the faults most prevalent 

 anionnr them ; these he should be particularly 

 careful to avoid in the male which he intends to 

 use. It is sometimes said that the male animal 

 ought to have no faulis, and undoubiedly it would 

 be very desirable that this should be the case ; but 

 unfortunately, no such animal exists. All a man 

 can do, therelore, is to avoid putting a male and 

 female together whose imperfections itre the same, 

 po as not to increase the fiult already existing in 

 the slock. If a man breeds upon a large scale, 

 and uses several males at the same time, he can, 

 of course, attend to this more etlectually than it he 

 uses only one. In this case, he should select and 

 put together the males and lemales individually, 

 60 as to endeavor to correct any imperfections 

 which either of them show. Most breeders of 

 sheep, indeed, do use more than one ram, and all 

 who pretend to take any praise in improving their 

 flock divide their ewes, so as to put them with the 

 ram who will most probably efi'ect this object. I 

 need not say that those (some of whom, I am sorry 

 to say, still exist) who turn two or three rams of 

 ditl'erent shapes and qualities into a field with all 

 their ewes, without attempting to make any selec- 

 tion among them, have no right to expect to be 

 successful breeders ; and if they do expect it, will 

 certainly be disippoinied. 1 believe tlie ireneral 

 opinion of breeders is, that it is advantaireous to 

 endeavor to correct any fiiult in the shape of a 

 female by |iUliing a male to her wiio possesses, in 

 extraordinary peili^ction, the merit in which she 

 is deficient, but who in some other part ol' his 

 shape is faulty. My experience leads me to say 

 that, this mode of endeavoring to correct a fault is 

 frequently- successful. It would be better that 

 none of the females from whicii a man intends to 

 breed, should be faulty in shape to any con- 

 siderable ilegree, but it almost always will happen 

 that some animals, possessing an excellent cousli- 

 tiition. good blood, and a great propensity to fiilten, 

 and liierefbre such as the owner would very un- 

 willingly cull, will fiiil decidedly in some part of 

 their shape. I would say that, when this is the 

 cuae, it is worth while to try ihe experiment of 



putting to them a male remarkable for his perfec- 

 tion in this failing part ; and, in my opinion, such 

 a male will be more likely to correct the fault, than 

 one who shows no one part of his shape very su- 

 perior to the rest. The late Mr. Cliiie, whose 

 eminence as surgeon is very well known, publish- 

 ed a tract upon the breeding of domestic animals 

 which contained, as might be expected, most val- 

 uable information. His sugueslions are such a« 

 ouyht to be. very caiefijlly ailertded to; but it is 

 probable that his meaning has been mistal<en in 

 one reconnnendatioii wliah he gives, namely, tliat 

 in which he is utuleivtood to p;»y that it is always 

 desirable thai the male should be smaller than the 

 lijiiiale. When he makes this observation, he ia 

 speaking o!' the cro-i-sing of difieient breeds, and 

 probably only means that in a cross between a 

 large breed and a small one, the male should be 

 talvcn from the small breed, and the female from 

 the larire one. It is hardly possible that he inten- 

 ded to say that in the same breed the male ought 

 to be. smaller than the female, because this is con. 

 trary to the practice of naiure. In every descrip- 

 tion of land animal wi'h which I am acquainted, 

 the males are of a ku'L^er size than the lemales. 

 The attempt also to Ibllnw this advice would un- 

 doubtedly, in a ib.w generations, so very much re- 

 duce the size both of males and females, as con- 

 siderably to dimmish their value. I can say. from 

 mv own expe'ience, thai some of the best sha[ ed 

 animals which I have bred have been produced 

 by lbllowin<; a contrary course. I prefer bieed'tiuj 

 from large li'males ; hut ill do breed liom one 

 which I think too small I put her to the largest 

 male of good shape that I possess. As one in- 

 stance amoiiii several to prove thai this course 

 may be successful, the ox which I showed in the 

 fiurth class, at the last Smithfield show, and which 

 obtained the prize in that class, was by tlie lar^-st 

 bull I have, from a cow so small, that I culled her 

 after she had bred thai one calf. It must be ad- 

 mitted that the theoretical reasoning wliicliMr, 

 Cline adduces in support of tliis recT»minendation 

 appears to be very conclusive ; but, even in the 

 restricted sense in winch I understand i^, there ia 

 some doubt whether it is practically correct. The 

 niusi, MHccessful cross between two difierent breeds 

 of cattle, of which I am aware, was Ihe one be- 

 tween a Durham bull and a Galli)\vay Scotch cow, 

 made by Mr. Charles Collino:. The produce from 

 this cross sold for enormous prices ai his sale, and 

 at the j^reseiit day a majoiity of the best short-hor- 

 ned cattle are desceiidetl from it. My opinion, 

 then, the result of my own practical experience is, 

 that if a man considers the female animals which 

 he possesses to be smaller than he wishes, he may 

 safely put them to a male of large size, provided 

 he is well bred, of good quality, and is well shapetl. 

 But I am bound to add, that I know, in giving (his 

 opinion, I differ from the most skilful and success- 

 ful breeders with whom I am acquainted. 



It. follows from the above observations, if they 

 are correct, that the fiist and most indispensable 

 object which all breeders must try to obtain, what- 

 ever may be Ihe shape or size they preler, that the 

 male animal which they select shall possess a 

 strong and healthy constitution. Thi«f is absolutely 

 essential ; but it is also most conducive to Iheir 

 success that they shall, afier due consideration, 

 make up their minds as to Ihe qualities which they 

 wish their stock to possess : that, having made 



