BOLIVIAN OR ENGLISH CAVIES 305 



legs and feet partially white ; ears dark, and general 

 effect and mingling of the colours forming a harmonious 

 whole. 



I think the original " guinea pigs" were more like 

 this variety than any other colour, and this probably 

 arose from the indiscriminate mating amongst them in 

 a wild state of nature. 



Probably those who had no experience of cavy breeding 

 might suppose it would be easy enough to produce this 

 variety with a white or only partially-marked boar and a 

 tortoiseshell sow, but I am assured by others, in confirma- 

 tion of my own experience, that the best specimens have' 

 not been produced in this way, as it is found in the 

 majority of cases that too great preponderance of the 

 colour of the one or the other of the parents in the colour 

 of the offspring is the result. 



Of course it is advisable, whatever materials are used, 

 to ascertain the antecedents of the pigs to be mated, and, 

 if they come of well-marked stock, as, even if closely 

 related in blood, the effects of this may be corrected by 

 an after outcross, securing the advantages of inherited 

 markings and avoiding the risk of loss of constitution by 

 the inbreeding. 



As I have said elsewhere in these sketches, I 

 am not in favour of inbreeding as a rule, in any 

 kind of live stock breeding, but sometimes it has to be 

 adopted where some marked characteristic must be pre- 

 served, even if it is to be corrected by outcrossing 

 afterwards. 



I think the variety under notice has had considerable 



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