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429 



ed by the width of the hips, and the 

 space between the thighs ; the 

 breadth of the loins is always in 

 proportion to that of the chest and 

 pelvis. 



" Head. The head should be 

 snnall, by w*hich the birth is facilitat- 

 ed to the offspring, it also indicates 

 the animal to be of a good breed, 

 and occasions less weight of unpro- 

 fitable substance to the consumer. 



" Horns are useless to domestic 

 animals, and occasion a great 

 weight of bone in the head. The 

 skull of a ram with horns weighed 

 five times as much as that of one 

 without horns, each being four 

 years old. A mode of breeding, 

 which would prevent the produc* 

 tion of horns, would therefore af- 

 ford a considerable saving. 



" The length of the neck should 

 be proportioned to the height of the 

 animal, that it may collect its food 

 with ease. 



" Muscles. The muscles and 

 tendons, which are their append- 

 ages, should be large, by which an 

 animal is enabled to travel with 

 greater facility. 



" Bones. The strength of an 

 animal does not depend on the size 

 of the bones, but on that of the 

 muscles ; many animals with large 

 bones are weak, their muscles be 

 ing small. Animals imperfectly 

 nourished during growth have their 

 bones disproportionally large. If 

 this originates from a constitutional 

 defect, they remain weak during 

 life ; large bones may therefore 

 indicate an imperfection in the or- 

 gans of nutrition." 



Of the improvment of form. The 

 €hief point to be attended to for 



the improvement of form, from Mr, 

 Cline's principles, is the selection 

 of males for breed of a proportion- 

 ally smaller size than the females, 

 both being of approved forms; the 

 size of the foetus depends on the 

 size of the female, and therefore 

 when the female is disportionally 

 small, her offspring has all the dis- 

 proportion of a starvling from 

 want of due nourishment. 



The larger female has also a 

 greater supply of milk, and her off- 

 spring is tFierefore more abundant- 

 ly provided with nourishment after 

 birth. 



When the female is large in pro- 

 portion to the male, the lungs of the 

 offspring will also be greater. By 

 crossing in this manner, there are 

 produced animals with remarkably 

 large chests, as has been often 

 noticed ; the advantage of large 

 lungs has been already pointed out. 



In animals where activity is re- 

 quired, this practice should not be 

 extended so far as in those which 

 are intended for the food of man. 



The size of animals is common- 

 ly adapted to the soil which they 

 inhabit ; when the produce is scan- 

 ty the breed is small ; the large 

 sheep of Lincolnshire would starve, 

 where the small sheep of Wales 

 tind abundant food. 



Crossing may be attended with 

 bad effects, even when begun on 

 Kood principles, if the above rule 

 be attended to throughout ; for in- 

 stance, if large ewes were brought 

 to Wales, and sent to the rams of 

 the country, the offspring would be 

 of improved form ; and if sufficient- 

 ly fed, of a larger size than the na» 

 tive animals, but the males of the 



