154 CATTLE-BREEDING. 



their great bulls Favorite, Comet, Lancaster, 

 Ben, Albion, Pilot, and the rest, doubted the 

 advantage of very close in-and-in breeding, and 

 did not follow them. These were the great 

 majority of breeders, and we could cite them 

 with value, but it is better to study only those 

 most apparently given to in-and-in breeding. 

 Let us take Mr. Bates next. 



Mr. Bates is often spoken of as the chief 

 teacher by act and precept of the theory of 

 in-and-in breeding, and even more has he been 

 made the patron saint of the advocates of "line 

 breeding." Mr. Bates was well acquainted with 

 the theory and practice of in-and-in breeding, 

 but no one need be told that of the modern 

 invention called "line breeding" he knew noth- 

 ing. He was no warm advocate of in-and-in 

 breeding under any circumstances. Under any 

 other than the most favorable conditions he 

 openly declared his disapproval of it. He was, 

 indeed, driven to practice it to no small extent, 

 but this is explicable on other grounds than a 

 belief in the wisdom of the procedure, and 

 cannot be taken as contradicting his explicit 

 declaration. Enamored of the excellence of 

 his own cattle, and looking upon all else with a 

 not very unprejudiced eye, he sought again and 

 again to avoid diluting their perfection with 

 blood which he regarded as very inferior to 

 theirs, and thus strove to confine himself as 



