THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



543 



Bonous effects of mushrooms are much more 

 easily prevented than cured, for which purpose 

 they should be either kept up durinif the wet sea- 

 sons, which promote tlie growih of nujshroums, 

 or salt and tar should be <iiven frequently at those 

 times, with the view ol' invigorating and iruardmg 

 the stomach against the pernicious influence of 

 the mushrooms; and salt should l)e given at least 

 once a week through the whole year, Ibr the pur- 

 pose of promoting the general health of your 

 hogs. The kidney worm may generally tie 

 cured by applying a tar or pitch plaster over the 

 region of the kidneys, first having shaven oH 

 the hair and lacerated the skin. The best man- 

 ner of getting clear of mange and lice, is to ex- 

 dude your hogs (rom lying at)out your barn-yards 

 and stables, and giving fhem sulphur, and anoint- 

 ing them with sulphur or mercurial ointment. 

 There are some other points coimected with this 

 subject, which we intended to have noticed, but 

 feared that we might be trespassing on your pa- 

 tience, though we hope ihat we have said some- 

 thing which may aid and encourage our people 

 in freeing themselves Irom the dependence which 

 they have long (ell on the west, (or one of the 

 principal necessaries of lite. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING CATTLE. 



From tlie Franl<Iin Farmer of 1838. 



The number of agriculturisis who are devoting 

 themselves to improving their cattle is so great, 

 and increasing so (ast, that aulheniic information 

 on the principles of breeding cannot (ail to be 

 highly interesting and useful. 



I have therelore concluded to present to the 

 f)ublic through the columns of your extensively 

 circulated and popular journal, five or six short 

 articles upon the subject, arranged under the (bl- 

 lowing heads : 



1st. The grand principle that like produces like. 



2d. The comparative influence of sire and dam. 



3d. Breeding in and in. 



4th. The value of good keep in breeding. 



5th. The proper age for breeding. 



The principles and facts which will be present- 

 ed in these articles, will be almost entirely select- 

 ed and arranged from that most elaborate and au- 

 thentic treatise on cattle published under the su- 

 perintendence of the British Society (or the dif- 

 lusion of useful knowledge. On this account the 

 writer may ask for these articles the greater at- 

 tention, as this work is of the highest authority 

 both in England and America. From this work 

 (which should be in the hands of every (armer) 

 I will extract largely in the present article, which 

 will be devoted to the illustration of 



1. — The grand principle that like produces like. 



That which lies at the foundation and improve- 

 ment of every stock, or the successtlil manage- 

 ment of it, is the fact, the common but too much 

 neglected axiom, that "like produces like," This 

 is the governing law in every portion of animated 

 nature. 



There is not a deviation from it in the vegeta- 

 ble world, and the exceptions are few and far be- 

 tween in the lower classes of animals. When in 

 the higher species the principle may not seem at 



all times to hold good, it is because another pow- 

 er, the intellectual — the imaginative — somewhat 

 controls the mere organic one; or in many in- 

 stances the organic prmciple is still in full activity, 

 Ibr the lost resemblance to generations gone by is 

 pleasingly and strongly revived. 



This principle extends to (brm, constitution, 

 qualities, predisposition to and exception (rom 

 disease, and to every thing that can render an 

 animal valuable or worthless. It equally applies 

 to the dam and to the sire. It is the Ibundaiioa 

 of scientific and successful breeding. 



Let it be supposed that the cattle of a certain 

 farmer have some excellent qualities about them, 

 but there is a delect which considerably deterio- 

 rates their value, and which he is anxious to re- 

 move. He remembers that like produces like, 

 and he looks about Ibr a bull which possesses the 

 excellence which he wishes to engrail on his own 

 breed, he tries the experiment, and perhaps to his 

 astonishment it is a (allure, and his stock may 

 have deteriorated instead ol improved. The cause 

 ol this every day occurrence was that the new 

 bull had the good point which was wanting in ihe 

 old stock, but he, too, was deficient somewhere 

 else, and therelbre, though his cattle had in some 

 degree improved by him in one way, it was coun- 

 terbalanced by the inheritance ol his delects. 

 Here is the secret of every lailure. The new- 

 comer, while he possesses that which was a de- 

 sideratum in the old stock, should likewise possess 

 every good quality which they had previously ex- 

 hibited; then, and then alone, will there be an 

 improvement without alloy. 



This principle was the secret spring and the 

 ground work of all JVlr. Bakewell's proceedings 

 and success. The prompt adoption of this prin- 

 ciple enabled that distinguished breeder to build 

 up the famous family of new Leicester long 

 horns. By judicious crossing, the excellencies of 

 several animals were happily united in one indi- 

 vidual, and the good points were confirmed and 

 rendered constitutional, by uniting animals which- 

 contained them. The skeletons or separate joints 

 or points of some of the more celebrated of his 

 animals were preserved or pickled, and hung side 

 by side for the purpose of inspection and improve- 

 ment. Some joints of beef, the relics of Old 

 Comely, the mother of the stock, were particular- 

 ly observed ; the fat of the surloin on the outside 

 was lour inches in thickness. A Ibur year old 

 steer of this family weighed three thousand lour 

 hundred and seventy-two pounds. The lour quar- 

 ters of another of this breed weighed nineteen 

 hundred and eighty-eight pounds, tallow two 

 hundred pounds, and hide one hundred and seven- 

 ty-seven pounds. 



2. — The comparative inftuence of the sire and dam. 



If the preceding number established the princi- 

 ple that Zi/ceproc/uces like, il is obvious that the 

 farmer who has a good slock of cattle to breed 

 frorn will rear good stock, and will improve them ; 

 but if he has a bad stock to start from, the produce 

 will be indifferent, and will grow worse. How 

 obviously important is it then that his stock, both 

 male and female, should be of the best quality 

 which he can possibly obtain. 



The question as to the comparative influence 

 of the sire and dam is a difficult one to decide. 

 That farmer will not err who applies the grand 



