THE EARTH'S BOUNTY, 



have improved our stock, we must also provide 

 improved conditions. The climate, the food, 

 and the care must all be as good as the supe- 

 rior pure-bred animals have previously en- 

 joyed, else the improvement cannot be main- 

 tained. 



" In nature changes come slowly. It may 

 be necessary to secure the desired changes by 

 gradual steps. If the animals to be crossed 

 are too disproportionate to each other, ' rever- 

 sion ' will very probably occur and bring dis- 

 appointment. * Violent crosses ' are, there- 

 fore, to be avoided. Do not attempt to cross 

 animals of distinct breeds having opposite 

 characters. Never cross-breed animals simply 

 for the sake of crossing. 



" Breeding between crosses is merely guess- 

 work and yields haphazard results, because 

 usually crosses have not fixed hereditary char- 

 acteristics. How fast the pure blood may be- 

 come diluted by crossing out and out is shown 

 by the fact that in the tenth generation the 

 descendant would possess only one-ten-hun- 



32? 



