FIRST CENTURY OF DAIRYING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



hands of the judicious breeder. What an extraordinary influence has 

 thus been exerted by a single bull on the fortunes of the Shorthorn 

 breed. TliL-re is hardly a single choice purebred Shorthorn that is not 

 descended from ' Favourite' (252), and not only descended in a single 

 line, but descended in fifty different lines. Take any single animal, 

 and this bull occurs in a dozen of its preceding generations, and 

 repeatedly up to 100 times in the animals of the more distant genera- 

 tions. His influence is thus so paramount in the breed that one 

 fancies he has created it, and that the present character of the whole 

 breed is due to the accidental appearance of an animal of extraordinary 

 endowments on the stage at the beginning of the present century. 

 And yet it is not so ; he is himself an illustration of the in-breeding 

 system, his sire and dam having been half brother and sister, both 

 got by ' Foljambe.' and this breeding in and in has handed down his 

 irf'uencc to the present day in an extraordinary degree. ' Charmer,' 

 from which, as may be seen elsewhere, no fewer than 31 defen- 

 dants were sold by auction in one day, had, of course two im- 

 mediate parents, four progen tors in the second generation, eight in 

 the third, sixteen in the fourth, the number necessarily doubling each 

 step further back. Of the eight bulls named in the fourth generation 

 from which she was descended one was by ' Favourite.' She is one- 

 sixteenth ' Favourite' on that account, but the cow to which he was 

 then put was also descended from ' Favourite." So are each of 

 the other seven bulls and seven cows which stand on the same level 

 of descent with the gr. gr. g. dam of ' Charmer,' and in fact it will 

 be found on examination that in so far as ' Charmer's' pedigree i- 

 known which it is in some instances to the sixteenth generation- 

 she is not one-sixteenth only, but nearly nine-sixteenths of pure 

 ' Favourite' blood. This arise^ from ' Favourite' having been used 

 repeatedly on cows descended from himself. In the pedigree of 

 'Favourite,' and his dam, 'Young Phoenix,' was by 'Favourite,' with 

 ' George' 'George' was by 'Favourite,' and his dam, 'Lady Grace' wa<= 

 also by ' Favou'rite,' with 'Chilton' 'Chilton' was by 'Favourite/ and 

 his dam was also by 'Favourite' with 'Minor' 'Minor' was by 

 'Favourite.' and his dam also was by ' Favourite' with ' Peeress' she 

 was by ' Favourite/ and her dam also by ' Favourite' ; with ' Bright 

 Eyes' she was by ' Favourite/ and her dam also by 'Favourite' with 

 ' Strawberry' she was by ' Favourite/ and her dam by ' Favourite' ; 

 'Dandy/ ' Moss Rose/ amonor the cows, and 'Xorth Star' among the 

 bulls are also of similar descent." 



Notwithstanding all the conflicting evidence, it is better always to 

 avoid breeding from near affinities when animals of the same breed 

 and of equal merit are obtainable which are not related. Yet where 

 this is not possible, or where there is some desirable and clearly de- 

 fined puipose in view, as the fixing and perpetuating of some valuable 

 quality in a particular animal, not common to the bteed, and the 

 breeder possesses the knowledge and skill needful to accomplish his 

 purpose, and the animals are perfect in health and development, close 

 breeding may be practised with advantage. 



On crossing, Boswcll says: '' When I praise the advantages oi 

 crossing 1 would have it clearly understood that it is only to bring 

 together animals not very nearly related, but always of the same breed 

 and blood. It is evident that such crossing as this is not wholly un- 

 objectionable ; no one but an avowed and ultra advocate of out- 

 breeding could possibly find any fault with it. The word ''breed/ how- 

 ever, is often used with varying signification. In order, therefore, 

 to be understood it is well right here to designate ' breed' a class of 

 animals possessing a good degree oi uniformity growing out of the 

 fact of a common origin and of their having been reared under similar 

 conditions. The nut hod proposed is to unite animals possessing 

 similarity of desirable characteristics with difference of breed ; that 



246. 



