CROSS BREEDING. 



CROSS breeding is, properly speaking, the 

 mating of animals of distinct breeds. There 

 has been not a little confusion in late years 

 produced by a want of clear distinctions ini 

 terms used in breeding. The analogy between 

 the relations of family to family and tribe to 

 tribe and that of breed to breed has naturally 

 led to the use of terms, especially in the ab- 

 sence of others more accurate, properly be- 

 longing to the wider sphere in a restricted 

 sense. Thus we hear of cross breeding in the 

 limits of particular breeds, as of a cross of 

 Booth upon Bates. It is so essential to the 

 intelligent discussion of any subject that the 

 terminology shall be exact and generally ac- 

 cepted, that all such looseness of speech must be 

 deplored, even while we find how hard 'it is to 

 avoid it. 



I here use cross breeding in its true, and orig- 

 inal signification the mating of animals of 

 distinct breeds. We have two divisions of 

 this subject forced on us by modern conditions 

 which are quite distinct and require to be 

 looked at from totally different points of view. 

 In the first place we have crosses between two 



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