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one may be counteracted bv a contrast in tlie other. 

 A breeder often pitts several mares to the same horse, 

 and by so doing seldom gets the kind of horses he 

 intends to raise ; for it cannot be supposed that any 

 man will be so careful in selecting his mares as to 

 have them all suitable to breed to the same stallion. 

 Farmers often pursue this course because it is more 

 convenient to have all their breeders served by the 

 same horse, but they pay dearly for their convenience 

 when their best mares bring^ colts of the most inferior 

 character, and fit for an}^ thing else than the object 

 for which they intended them. This subject demands 

 the most careful consideration by all who would per- 

 petuate a good stock or improve an inferior one. 



Another very important point to be observed in 

 breeding is, never to put a mare to a stallion of the 

 same stock, if they are nearly akin, for the foal will 

 be delicate, and seldom as good or as large as either 

 the dam or the sire, and never as durable or as well 

 mettled. Natural deformity may generally be traced 

 to the fact that the dam and sire were too nearly 

 akin. A distinguished author justly remarks on the 

 subject of "breeding in and in," as it is called, that 

 "it is a fact, however much some may deny it, that 

 strict confinement to one breed, however valuable 

 or perfect, produces gradual deterioration." In Eu- 

 rope, where the writer practiced until within the last 

 twelve years, the raiser of horses for the turf is par- 

 ticularly cautious of this practice. No sportsman 



