CROSS-BRED DEER 



IN order to try to evolve a deer with better horns than any pure- 

 bred red deer, whilst keeping the red deer type, I have, for the last 

 fourteen years, been making crosses between wapiti (C. canadensisfy, 

 Altai (C. c. asiaticus), red deer (C elaphiis], and hangul (C. cash- 

 mirianus). 



The result, so far as I have gone, is given below, with photo- 

 graphs of each cross male, female, and young. What I have proved 

 for the first time is that all these species of deer freely cross, and 

 that the progeny is fertile, even in triple and quadruple crosses. 



I find the Altai, whilst improving the bodily form, does not 

 improve the horns, since although it may be that my stags were 

 exceptions the Altai has too narrow a "head," the horns', after 

 spreading slightly, growing straight up, and not having many 

 points ; while, worst of all, they have the tendency shown by some 

 wapiti to have all the points in a fore-and-aft direction, so that they 

 do not branch out sideways, as a good "head" should. 



The result, therefore, of the Altai-red-deer cross (the Altai 

 being the male parent) is that the hybrid hinds are very good, 

 being big, strong, and of a greyer colour than pure red deer almost 

 Altai colour and that they cross freely with wapiti or hangul, 

 while their male progeny , do not have narrow "heads" when thus 

 crossed. 



On the other hand, the stags of the Altai-red-deer cross have 



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