Book II. IMPROVING THE BREED OF ANIMALS. 305 



He says, " Magnell's fox-hounds are quoted as an instance of the success of breeding 

 in-and-in ; but upon speaking to that gentleman upon the subject, I found that he did 

 not attach the meaning that I do to the term in-and-in. He said that he frequently bred 

 from the father and the daughter, and the mother and the son. This is not what I 

 consider as breeding in-and-in ; for the daughter is only half of the same blood as the 

 father, and will probably partake, in a great degree, of the properties of the mother. 

 Magnell sometimes bred from brother and sister ; this is certainly what may be called a 

 little close : but should they both be very good, and, particularly, should the same defects 

 not predominate in both, but tire perfections of the one promise to correct in the produce 

 the imperfections of the other, I do not think it objectionable : much farther than this 

 the system of breeding from the same family cannot, in my opinion, be pursued with 

 safety. " (p. 10.) John Hunt, surgeon at Loughborough, a friend of Bakewell and 

 Darwin, in a reply to Sir J. S. Sebright's pamphlet, entitled Agricultural Memoirs, §c. 

 1812, justly observes, that as Sir John has given no definition of the term in-and-in, 

 from what may be gathered from the above extract be seems to have been as near as 

 possible of the same mind as Bakewell, whose practice, it is on all sides allowed, was 

 " to put together those animals which were most perfect in shape, without regard to 

 affinity in blood." This, in fact, is the general practice in all the best breeding districts, 

 and especially in Leicestershire and Northumberland, and may properly be termed 

 breeding in the line. 



2061. George Culley, a Northumberland farmer of great practice in breeding and feeding, in his Observ. 

 ations on Live Stock, not only concurs in this principle as far as respects quadrupeds, but considers it to 

 hold good in the feathered tribe, and, in short, in animals of every kind. His conclusion is, " That of all 

 animals, of whatever kind, those which have the smallest, cleanest, finest bones, are in general the best 

 proportioned, and covered with the best and finest grained meat." — " I believe," he adds, " they are also 

 the hardiest, healthiest, and most inclinable to feed ; able to bear the most fatigue while living, and worth 

 the most per lb. when dead." [.Observations, 222.) 



2062. Cross-breeding, under judicious management, might probably be often employed 

 to correct the faults of particular breeds, or to impart to them new qualities. " Were I," 

 says Sir J. S. Sebright, " to define what is called the art of breeding, I should say, that 

 it consisted in the selection of males and females, intended to breed together, in reference 

 to each other's merits and defects. It is not always by putting the best male to the best 

 female, that the best produce will be obtained ; for should they both have a tendency to 

 the same defect, although in ever so slight a degree, it will in general preponderate so 

 much in the produce, as to render it of little value. A breed of animals may be said to 

 be improved, when any desired quality has been increased by art, beyond what that 

 quality was in the same breed in a state of nature. The swiftness of the race-horse, the 

 propensity to fatten in cattle, and the fine wool in sheep, are improvements which have 

 been made in particular varieties of the species to which those animals belong. What 

 has been produced by art must be continued by the same means ; for the most improved 

 breeds will soon return to a state of nature, or perhaps defects will arise, which did not 

 exist when the breed was in its natural state, unless the greatest attention be paid to the 

 selection of the individuals who are to breed together. 



2063. We must observe the smallest tendency to imperfection in our stock, the moment it 

 appears, so as to be able to counteract it, before it becomes a defect ; as a rope-dancer, 

 to preserve his equilibrium, must correct the balance, before it is gone too far, and then 

 not by such a motion as will incline it too much to the opposite side. The breeder's 

 success will depend entirely upon the degree in which he may happen to possess this par- 

 ticular talent. 



2064. Regard should not only be paid to the qualities apparent in animals selected for 

 breeding, but to those which have prevailed in the race from which they are descended, 

 as they will always show themselves, sooner or later, in the progeny : it is for this reason 

 that we should not breed from an animal, however excellent, unless we can ascertain it 

 to be what is called wett. bred; that is, descended from a race of ancestors, who have, 

 through several generations, possessed in a high degree the properties which it is our 

 object to obtain. The offspring of some animals is very unlike themselves ; it is, there- 

 fore, a good precaution, to try the young males with a few females, the quality of whose 

 produce has been already ascertained : by this means we shall know the sort of stock they 

 get, and the description of females to which they are the best adapted. If a breed cannot 

 be improved, or even continued in the degree of perfection at which it has already arrived, 

 but by breeding from individuals so selected as to correct each other's defects, and by a 

 judicious combination of their different properties (a position that will not be denied), 

 it follows that animals must degenerate, by being long bred from the same family, 

 without the intermixture of any other blood, or from being what is technically called 

 bred in-and-in." 



2065. Bakewell and Culley say, " like begets like," therefore breed from the best. Of this, says Sir 

 J. S. Sebright, there can be no doubt ; " but it is to be proved how long the same family, bred in-and-in, 

 will continue to be the best." Breeding in the line appears more consonant to what takes place in nature 

 than either breeding from very near relationship or crossing one race with another; but, arguing from 



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