14 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Mr. BuRSLEY. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have Professor 

 Tnieman with ns for another few minutes, and I am sure 

 that he will be glad to explain any points which are not 

 clear. 



Professor Trueman. In regard to the Jersey, let me say 

 that the difficulty of explaining the big records in the past 

 does not detract in any way from the magnificent records the 

 Jerseys are making at the present time. The point I had 

 in mind was that the argument that came to my mind was 

 likely to have a hole knocked in it, and I hoped that I 

 wasn't going to be caught up in the argument. As to the 

 Jersey cow, you will all agree with me that I don't need to 

 apologize for her in any way. 



Mr. II. A. Ford. I would like to ask Professor Trueman, 

 provided we had two good animals and couldn't well afford to 

 buy another, how far he would recommend inbreeding. 



Professor Trueman. In answer to that question, you 

 will find that there is no definite rule that you can go by ; 

 but so far as we are acquainted with the effects of inbreeding 

 the only serious thing you are likely to get is lack of consti- 

 tution. It all amounts to this ; that one of the characteris- 

 tics of our dairy cattle — in fact, of all animals, and it is 

 true of our own race — is that we have to look out for lack 

 of constitutional vigor, and therefore you find in your germ 

 cells a great many individuals which lack vigor. Now, as 

 soon as you begin to inbreed of course you begin to put 

 double doses of it into that cell, because for the same animal 

 you are breeding the same blood, and as soon as you begin 

 to inbreed you begin to get double doses of the various fac- 

 tors, and if you have a factor in there which, in this case, 

 might be a negative factor which meant lack of vigor, then 

 the danger is that you may double that up. You may have 

 connected with them the factor which calls for heavy milk 

 production, as has happened, and you might have a great 

 heavy cow which yet lacked vigor to reproduce itself strongly 

 in its offspring. Therefore, I would put it this way as a 

 practical proposition : Suppose I saw that my cattle were 

 vigorous ; for instance, I have a vigorous bull and the calves 



