PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 125 



A Canadian pony that acquired some notoriety, 

 " though scarcely thirteen hands high, was put to 

 some of the largest mares in the country, some of 

 them sixteen hands high. The result was a proge- 

 ny of long-bodied, lizard or short-legged, squat ani- 

 mals, with diminutive «;xtremities and immense 

 frames, the verj^ caricatures of the animals wished, 

 and the blood of which was not for a long time erad- 

 icated." It is a law of nature, that her system of 

 proportions, as well as races, cannot be violated to 

 any extent with impunity. 



If breeders of cattle wish to produce a particular 

 effect in crossing or improving a breed, they usually 

 pay more attention to the qualities of the cow than 

 the bull : and the reason is, the young of all animals 

 partake more of the qualities of the mothei than of 

 the father ; her constitution, her temper — in short, 

 all that is particularly good or bad about her, will, in 

 nine times out of ten, leave its impress on the off- 

 spring. Experience shows it to be so in the human 

 race ; and it is not less decisi\'ely so in the ox or the 

 horse. Constitutional ailments are more apt to ef- 

 fect the young when they exist in the female parent, 

 and the cause is perfectly obvious : for no inconsid- 

 erable part of their existence they form an integral 

 part of herself, and for another part derive their 

 food, with all its good or bad qualities, directly from 

 her. 



There is another thing of much importance in 

 breeding perfect animals, which is usually wholly 

 overlooked by breeders of horses or cattle ; and that 

 is allowing, or, rather, requiring too much service 

 from the male. In England the best bulls are let to 

 only a limited number of cows : here, on the con- 

 trary, little or no attention is paid to this particular. 

 The best and most vigorous stallions will rarely sire 

 more than 70 or 75 foals in a season ; yet they are 

 frequently allowed twice or thrice that number of 

 mares. Thirty ewes is the greatest number that 



