PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 63 



say that the milking qualities, as well as the external 

 form, &c., are transmitted through the male offspring. 



Mr. James Dickson, an experienced breeder .and 

 drover, who views the subject from his own standpoint, 

 says : " A great part of the art of breeding lies in the 

 principle of judicious crossing ; for it is only by attend- 

 ing properly to this that success is to be attained, and 

 animals produced that shall yield the greatest amount 

 of profit for the food they consume. All eminent 

 breeders know full well that ill-bred animals are un- 

 profitable both to the breeder and feeder. To carry 

 out the system of crossing judiciously, certain breeds 

 of cattle, sheep, pigs, <fec, must be kept pure of their 

 kind — males especially; indeed, as a general rule, no 

 animal possessing spurious blood, or admixture with 

 other breeds, should be used. The produce in almost 

 all cases assimilates to the male parent ; and I should 

 say that in crossing the use of any males not pure-bred 

 is injudicious, and ought to be avoided." 



If, therefore, a cross is effected with satisfactory results, 

 it should be continued by resorting to pure-bred bulls, 

 and not by the use of any grade bulls thus obtained ; 

 for, though a grade bull may be a very fine animal, it 

 has been found that he does not transmit his good 

 qualities with anything like the certainty of a pure- 

 bred one. The more desirable qualities are united in 

 the bull, the better ; but the special reason for the use 

 of a pure-bred male in crossing is not so much that the 

 particular individual selected has these qualities most 

 perfectly developed in himself, as that they are hered- 

 itary in the breed to which he belongs. The moment 

 the line is crossed, and the pedigree broken, uncer- 

 tainty commences. Although the form of the grade 

 bull may, in individual cases, be even superior to that 

 of his pure-bred sire, yet there is less likelihood of his 



