SELECTION OF BREEDING ANIMALS. 273 



in every case. A man may be assured by expe- 

 rience that the reaper of a certain manufacture 

 is the best and yet not know whether a new 

 cultivator from the same house will give satis- 

 faction, even though he may be sure that so far 

 as workmanship and materials go it will be of 

 the best; and even among machines of one class 

 some are better made than others. A man may 

 do his best and yet not attain the same or equal 

 results in all cases; so there are certain things 

 which it always pays to take a good deal of 

 pains to make sure of, and there are just such 

 things to be looked to in selecting breeding 

 animals. 



In the first place, too careful inquiry cannot 

 be made into the healthfulness of the individ- 

 ual and the family of which it comes. This is 

 oftentimes not a mere matter of form. There 

 is not a little of congenital disease in the best 

 stock of our country, and this ought to be 

 guarded against so far as possible. Such forms 

 as consumption and other types of tuberculosis 

 are especially to be guarded against, and are 

 dangerous in that by using a bull when young 

 with such an inherited taint in his blood we 

 may infect a whole herd without his having 

 shown any outward sign of the disease, which 

 often does not develop for years, lying latent in 

 the system. Such congenital diseases not only 

 leave their mark on the animal by infecting 



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