132 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



power of cugnifting scions upon the most unpromising roots, 

 many times but little deteriorated, neve?' blighted entirely, 

 by circumstances, however adverse. When this point was 

 attained, he had got what was called "blood-stock," or, in other 

 words, "thoroughbreds." There would seem to be something 

 in nature, however choice the blood (for breeding purposes), 

 obtained by this in-and-in breeding, if not antagonistic to it, 

 that seems to say, "thus far, and no farthe)\" For the mo- 

 ment this "blood" overflows into other channels; it produces 

 "grades" better than itself. No raiser of thoroughbreds, so 

 far as the writer knows, will contend that such stock can 

 favorably compare with grades for anything but crossing with 

 something else. This being the case, it is not desirable to 

 have a very large portion of our stock thorough — only enough 

 to supply bulls — sufficient to bring them within the reach, at 

 reasonable rates (which is not the case now) of all farmers. 

 Exorbitant prices are charged for the service of bulls of this 

 stamp, in many cases completely grinding out all efforts of 

 improvement in this way, leaving only the road open for 

 advance by way of using grades, and in very many, perhaps 

 a majority, of cases, taking the old-fashioned scrubs. 



But let us not disparage too much the grades for breeding- 

 cows. Grades are good, very good, to breed from, if not too 

 far removed from the fountain. The impress of the real 

 thoroughbred remains stamped upon the progeny for many 

 generations without going back to the original, growing fainter, 

 it is true, as the gap widens. The writer knows this from 

 observation in his own neighborhood. Austin W. Carpenter 

 (now dead) many years ago obtained a bull-calf, a- half-breed 

 from the old Northumberland bull, and brought him to Leyden. 

 Calves of that bull's get were equal, I thiuk, to grades obtained 

 directly from a thoroughbred sire. I do not know as to the 

 certainty of transmission, but this I do know — that calves 

 have recently been produced in this vicinity strongly show- 

 ing their relationship to that animal, even reproducing the 

 identical white mark on the flank. This, while it shows the 

 value of grades as breeders, shows the great strength and 

 certainty of transmission of the thoroughbreds. How very 

 important, then, that what we call thoroughbreds have abso- 

 lutely all imperfections of shape, temper, predisposition to 



