1858.] SENATE— No. 4. 49 



by some, who say that the milking qualities are transmitted 

 through the male offspring, but I believe it is sustained by the 

 experience of practical breeders. Mr. James Dickson, an expe- 

 rienced breeder and drover, says : " A great part of the art of 

 breeding lies in the principle oi judicious crossing, for it is only 

 by attending properly to this, that success is to be attained and 

 animals produced that shall yield the greatest amount of profit 

 for the food they consume. All eminent breeders know full 

 well that ill-bred animals are unprofitable both to the breeder 

 and feeder. To carry out the system of crossing judiciously, 

 certain breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs, &c., must be kept pure of 

 their kind — males especially ; indeed, as a general rule, no 

 animal possessing spurious blood or admixture Avith other 

 breeds, should be used. ♦ The produce in almost all cases assim- 

 ilates to the male parent ; and I should say that in crossing, the 

 use of any males not pure bred is injudicious, and ought to be 

 avoided." If, therefore, a cross is once effected with satisfac- 

 tory results, it should be continued by resorting to pure bred 

 bulls, and not by the use of any grade bulls thus obtained ; for, 

 though a grade bull may be a very fine animal, it has been 

 found that he does not transmit his good qualities with any 

 thing like the certainty of a pure bred one. The more desira- 

 ble qualities are united in the bull the better ; but the special 

 reason for the use of a pure bred male in crossing, is not so 

 much that the particular individual selected has these qualities 

 most perfectly developed in himself, as that they are hereditary 

 in the breed to which he belongs. The moment the line is 

 crossed and the pedigree broken, uncertainty commences ; and 

 although the form of the grade bull may, in individual cases, be 

 even superior to that of his pure bred sire, yet there is less likeli- 

 hood of his transmitting the qualities for which his breed is most 

 noted ; and when it is considered that during his life he may 

 scatter his progeny over a considerable section of country and 

 thus affect the cattle of his whole neighborhood, it becomes a 

 matter of no small public importance. And hence it was not 

 thought desiralile to encourage the raising of grade bulls by 

 offering premiums for them at the State Fair. 



Another well known fact in natural history is, that the size of 

 animals depends very much upon the fertility of the region they 

 inliabit. Where food is abundant and nutritious, they increase 

 7* 



