NATURAL BREEDING. 141 



faith in the in-and-in method have given ex- 

 pression to the opinion that unless in the hands 

 of very carefnl and wise men there was ranch 

 danger in long-continued close breeding. And 

 it is certainly very plain that to the ordinary 

 breeder who breeds cattle as a practical busi- 

 ness, quite apart from any special fancy, reg- 

 ular breeding of strong, healthy stock, for 

 which a demand at the full market price can 

 be safely relied on, is the desirable course. A 

 few men for fancy and fashion sake may prefer 

 to breed animals uncertain and irregular as 

 breeders, short-lived and delicate in constitu- 

 tion, producing many dead-born and sickly 

 calves, for the sake of now and again one of 

 extraordinary excellence which, perchance, may 

 never produce a calf to perpetuate her own 

 phenomenal excellence. 



This method may therefore be safely com- 

 mended as the safe course to all. From it the 

 most satisfaction and most even results will be 

 secured, and without any risk of doing injury 

 to the breed of cattle which is cultivated. Those 

 who desire to experiment and to breed for a 

 fancy market, wholly dependent upon tempo- 

 rary and extremely evanescent fashions, may 

 be trusted to find an agreeable road and to 

 walk in it without very much regard to any 

 one else's ideas or opinions, however well 

 founded. But to the young and inexperienced, 



