PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING, 123 



room for the development and nourishment of the 

 foetus. CHne, Lawrence, Cully, and other celebra- 

 ted names are the advocates of this principle ; and, 

 we think, of its general soundness there can be little 

 doubt. It has, however, found strenuous opponents 

 in England ; and these objections have been urged 

 with much force in an Essay on Cattle, from the pen 

 of an eminent cattle-dealer and breeder, John Weight, 

 of Chesterfield. Mr. W. assumes as the basis of his 

 argument, that the male and female are of equal 

 blood, and of similar qualities in all respects, size 

 excepted ; and here the male is much the smallest, 

 according to the system of Cline and Cully. As a 

 natural result, the progeny will be of a size interme- 

 diate between the two, and, according to Mr. W., in 

 a continually increasing ratio. " For instance, by 

 beginning to breed from a cow, of which the average 

 weight of the herd, taking it to be uniform, is 70 

 stone,* and from a bull of a herd, of which the aver- 

 age weight is 65 stone, the female produce will be 

 an average of 67 1-2 stone. Observe, it is not the 

 weight of the bull himself, but the average iceight of the 

 race of cows from which the bull is descended, that should 

 be the groundioork of calculation. Again : the heifer- 

 calf, bred as above, will, when old enough, according 

 to this principle, be put to a bull of a herd of cows 

 five stone less on an average, and the next genera- 

 tion will have decreased to 65 stone. So that, in the 

 course of a few generations, the original improved 

 stock will be reduced to such a degree, that little 

 will remain to distinguish it from some herds of 

 small and inferior cattle, except colour and the other 

 characteristics of the species, independent of size." 

 Here the case is stated in the strongest manner, and 

 under circumstances that can scarcely occur in prac- 

 tice ; breeders, therefore, must determine how much 

 weight is to be allowed to the argument. 



* A stone is fourteen poun<t* 



