94 Live Stock. 



on, comparatively, a very small scale. By keeping it fat 

 from the first moment of its existence, it is made to attain 

 a greater size than would naturally have taken place ; and 

 its weight in consequence will be very great, in proportion 

 to the size of its bones. Thus a generation or two pf ani- 

 mals of an extraordinary form, and saleable at enormous 

 prices, may be obtained ; but that does not prove that the 

 practice is eligible, if long persisted in ( IXI ). On the con- 

 trary, if the system be followed up, the stock get tender and 

 delicate, they become bad feeders, require expensive articles 

 of food, and though they retain their shape and beauty, 

 they will decrease in vigour and activity, will become 

 lean and dwarfish, and ultimately incapable of continuing 

 the race. The instances of this are numerous. The cele- 

 brated breeder, Prinsep, found, that decrease of size was 

 unavoidable, in spite of all his endeavours to prevent it, 

 by keeping his young stock well ( Iia ). Sir John S. Se- 

 bright tried many experiments by breeding in-and-in^ with 

 dogs, fowls, and pigeons, and found the breeds uniformly 

 degenerate ( II3 ). A gentleman who tried the system with 

 pigs, brought them at last into such a state, that the females 

 gave over breeding almost entirely; and when they did breed, 

 their produce was so small and delicate, that they died as 

 soon as they were born. Nay, Mr Knight's experience with 

 plants have fully convinced him, that in the vegetable, as 

 well as in the animal kingdom, the offspring of a male and 

 female, not related, will possess more strength and vigour, 

 than where they are both of the same family ( II4 ). This 

 proves how unprofitable such connexions are. That is no 

 reason, however, why a breeder may not manage a particu- 

 lar family of animals to great advantage, by shifting or 

 changing, instead of breeding directly from parents to off- 

 spring ( II5 ). Hence the propriety of procuring males, from 

 the flocks and herds of those who have the same, or a simi- 

 lar breed. It has been remarked, that those farmers in ge- 

 neral have the worst flocks, who breed from rams pro- 

 duced on their own farms, and that an interchange of males 

 is mutually beneficial ( II6 ). 



With respect to the doctrine, " that when you can no 

 " longer find better males than your own, then by all means 

 " breed from them, for that best can only beget best ;" it is 

 ably refuted by an intelligent author, who has devoted much 

 attention to the art of breeding. He observes, that there 

 never did exist an animal, without some defect in constitu- 

 tion, in form, or in some other essential quality ; and such 



