ON BREEDING. 



127 



first formed ; but it makes little difference whether it 

 was the result of necessity, or of choice. It has fully 

 established the immense advantages of breeding in-and- 

 in, when the stock is of the right sort ; indeed, I can 

 see no other possible way of retaining the perfections 

 of any particular strain than that of retm-ning frequently 

 to the same blood. If this principle had not been 

 adopted, we would not now possess the advantage 

 which was gained by the Waxy blood. When the 

 out-and-out crossing is strictly pursued, the tenth 

 generation contains only the one-thousand-and-twenty- 

 fourth part of the original stock, which is a mere nomi- 

 nal affair. A very sensible writer, who signs himself 

 " An Old Tm-fite," in the Sporting Magazine, places 

 this in a very strong light, by adopting the following 

 tabular form : — 





The practical result may not always con-espond pre- 

 cisely with the arithmetical ratio, because the horse may 



