BREEDING. 



gradually, and at last disappear en- ' 

 tirely. This refers, however, to de- , 

 feels, not to peculiar qualities. Cows, 

 for example, may produce either milk 

 or fat in abundance from similar food ; 

 and a breed of cow which secretes j 

 too much fat, so as to be deficient in | 

 the milk necessary to rear the calf, ' 

 may be improved by selecting such 

 as give more milk, and by crossing 

 the breed with these ; but we must 

 be careful not to choose individuals 

 which differ nnich in sliape from the 

 breed to be improved. Every at- 

 tempt to unite opposite qualities is 

 generally attended with a bad re- 

 sult. If a breed has too great an 

 aptitude to fatten, so as to endanger 

 the fecundity of the mother or the 

 health of the offspring, the only rem- 

 edy is to diminish the oily nature of 

 the food ; and if, on the otlier hand, 

 a difficulty is found in fattening cows 

 which are of a peculiarly good breed 

 for the dairy, the loss on the old cow 

 sold half fat will have been amply 

 repaid by the milk she has given ; 

 and the bull-calves which are not 

 wanted to rear for bulls, if they are not 

 profitable to fatten as oxen, must be 

 fatted off young and sold for veal. 

 But it is not a necessary consequence 

 of an abundant produce of milk that 

 the cow, when dry, will not fatten 

 readily, although a great propensity 

 to fatten renders the breed less fit 

 for the dairy. The Ayrshire, which 

 are good milkers, fatten well when 

 dry, and the oxen of that breed are 

 as kind feeders as any. 



Many breeders have an idea that 

 coupling animals which are nearly 

 allied in blood produces a weak race ; 

 others consider it as a prejudice, and 

 among those who held the latter 

 opinion was the famous breeder 

 Bakewell. Without deciding this 

 point, we should recommend avoid- 

 ing too near a relationship, provided 

 individuals equally perfect can be 

 found of the same breed more dis- 

 tantly related. Every individual has 

 some peculiar defect, and his de- 

 scendants have a tendency to this 

 defect. If two immediate descend- 

 ants are coupled, this defect will 



110 



probably be confirmed ; whereas by 

 uniting the descendants of different 

 individuals the defect of either of the 

 parents may never break out ; but 

 sooner than retrograde by coupling 

 an inferior animal with one in an im- 

 proved state, we should not hesitate 

 to risk the consequences supposed to 

 arise from what is called breeding in 

 and in, that is, coupling animals near- 

 ly related in blood, especially if only 

 on one side, such as the produce of 

 the same male by different females, 

 or of a female by different sires. 



The qualities which distinguish 

 animals in which the muscles and 

 bones are required to be much exer- 

 cised, as dogs, horses, and working 

 oxen, are very different from those 

 of animals destined to accumulate 

 mere tender flesh and fat for human 

 food. In the former there must be 

 spirit, activity, and quick digestion ; 

 in the latter, indolence and proneness 

 to sleep are advantageous. In the 

 first, the lungs must play with ease, 

 and the muscles be strong, and not 

 encumbered with fat. In the second, 

 the lungs must be sound, as they are 

 essential to all the secretions, and 

 the digestive power must be good, 

 but slow. The food must not be ac- 

 celerated through the bowels by ex- 

 ercise, but the absorbent vessels of 

 the intestines must draw all the nour- 

 ishment from the digested food. The 

 more the muscles are impeded with 

 fat, the better the animal will repay 

 the food given him. To choose an 

 animal to breed from whose produce 

 shall get fat readily, we must attend 

 to this part of the constitution, and 

 care little about spirit and activity. 

 The tendency to secrete bone, and 

 those parts which are called offal by 

 the butchers, as being of inferior val- 

 ue, is a defect. Good flesh and fat 

 are the great objects. 



The manner in which the more sol- 

 id parts of the body are formed, and 

 the greater consumption of food, in 

 proportion to the increase of weight 

 which takes place in young animals, 

 while bones and horns are growing, 

 prove that it is much more expensive 

 to produce bone than flesh, and mus- 



