•260 



TVEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



IlKMAUKS 

 ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF CATTLE, &c. 

 In a letter to Sir John Saundtrs Sebright, liart. M. P. 

 by .Mr. John If'dkinson, of Lenlon, near A'olling- 

 ham. 



Let each succeeding race employ your care. 

 Distinguish which to slaughter, which to spare ; 

 Hark well the Uncage, — kt the purest make, 

 From purest blood, its just proportions take. 



{Continued from page 254.) 

 With respect to the value of different breeds 

 as milkers only, some persons hsve attended 

 solely to the quantity of milk given by each 

 cow, while others have had re!!;ard only to the 

 quality. But it is certain that this value roust 

 depend on the quantity and quality jointly, yield- 

 ed from a given quantity of food.* By a given 

 quantity of food is to be understood, not mere- 

 ly the same weight, but the same weight of the 

 same kind and quality also ; and in any experi- 

 ment, it ouglit moreover to be given under sim- 

 ilar circumstances. The time too allowed for 

 an experiment of this nature ought to be at 

 least a whole year; because some breeds will 

 give a great quantfty of milk just after calving, 

 but will not yield that quantity for any consid- 

 erable time ; while others will not give so great 

 a quantity at tirst, but will approximate to it 

 much longer. As to the number of the cows, 

 it need by no means be the same in two or 

 more cases of trial ; but the proper number for 

 the consumption of the proposed quantity of 

 food. For the question is not, whether the pro- 

 duce of so many of one breed, be more valua- 

 ble than the produce of the same number of 

 any other; but what will be the value of the 

 produce afforded by a certain quantity of food, 

 when bestowed on the one, compared with the 

 value of the produce afforded by the same 

 quantity of the same kind of food, when be- 

 stowed on any other; remaining circumstances 

 being as similar as possible. 



In comparing the value of any one breed with 

 the value of any other, in reference to the sham- 

 bles, it is very evident, that the placing out cer- 

 tain quantities of different kinds to feed, and 

 ■omparing the increase of weight in each case 

 \vith the quantity of food consumed, will never 

 determine the question. Because, here the 

 question is not which have paid the best for a 

 certain period, but which have paid the best 

 during the ^vhole course of their lives; the dif- 

 ferent breeds being killed at that particular age 

 which will give to them respectively the max- 

 imum of profit. That there is a certain age 

 which is the most profitable for disposing of 

 one kind ; but another age, and far difl'erent, 

 the most prutitable for another, is a circum- 

 stance well known (o every practical farmer. — 

 Some breeds cannot easily be made fat till they 

 are three or four years old ; while otliers are 

 capable of being so at any age we may think 



*Thib I think is so obvio';, that I need not attempt 

 to explain tlic fa'jt itself; but only mention after what 

 manner experiments ought to be made. Hence too it 

 very clearly follows, that the determining of what 

 quantity of cream is produced from a given quantity of 

 milk, will never ascertain the relative value of dif- 

 rrent biecds as milkers. This rule indeed is defec- 

 tive on its own principles, as it will by no means as- 

 certain even the quality ; for the cream of some cows 

 is far richer than that of others, and will yield a 

 much greater proportion of butter. 



proper. I believe the most profitable age for 

 disposing of fat cattle of the improved short 

 horned breed, is from two to three years old. ac- 

 cording to circumstances at the time of sale. — 

 In all experiments of this nature, there are ma- 

 ny and great difficulties to encounter in order 

 to render the comparisons just ; we may, how- 

 ever, proceed with a sufficient degree of accu- 

 racy to determine what breeds arc unquestiona- 

 bly the best ; and the greater excellence has 

 always been yielded to those which arrive at 

 the earliest maturity. 



I now come to the descent or lineage of ani- 

 mals ; and so vast is the importance of this part 

 of my subject, that 1 thought I could not do bet- 

 ter than notice it in the title page itself And 

 for the same reason also, 1 may be allowed to 

 quote your own words, which are so apposite 

 to my present purpose, and so perspicuous in 

 the delineation of the truth you wish to incul- 

 cate ; a truth which can never be too fully im- 

 pressed on the minds of those who are engaged 

 in the improvement of stock. They are as fol- 

 lows : " ilegard should not only be paid to the 

 qualities apparent in animals selected for breed- 

 ing, but to those which have prevailed in the 

 race from which they are descended, as they 

 will alwa3's show themselves, sooner or later, in 

 the progeny : It is for this reason that we should 

 not breed from an ani-.ial, however excellent, 

 unless we can ascertain it to be what is called 

 xccil bred ; that is, descended from a race of an- 

 cestors, who have, through several generations, 

 possessed, in a Jiigh degree, the properties 

 which it is our object to obtain."' This obser- 

 vation of yours, sir, appears to me so compre- 

 hensive, so clear, and yet at the same time so 

 concise, that I dare not attempt either to add or 

 take from it ; I will only endeavor to illustrate 

 it by some familiar example, and as many are 

 more conversant with the color of animals than 

 the excellence of their shapes, it may not be 

 amiss to refer to the former. Suppose, then 

 a number of pure Devon cows to be crossed 

 with a breed of perfectly white bulls; in this 

 case it is probable some of the calves would be 

 perfectly red, others white, and the greater 

 part would partake of these colors jointly. If 

 we were now to take the red heifers produced 

 by this cress, and put them to a Devon bull, it 

 would not be a matter of any great surprise, if 

 some of their progeny, though sprung from red 

 parents, should be perfectly white, and still less, 

 that several should be mixed with this color 

 though it would not by any means be so proba- 

 ble as in the former instance. And were we 

 thus to proceed through several generations 

 this white color would be less and less ap- 

 parent in the breed, but would most prob- 

 ably occasionally shew itself in some individ- 

 ual or other. If on the other hand, we were 

 to breed from pure Devons only, that is from 

 those that have been carefully bred for a great 

 length of time, we should reasonably expect 

 their offspring to be of the same color with the 

 parents themselves ; while any deviation from 

 this, would be looked upon as one of those 

 changes, which nature sometimes produces out 

 of the common course of things. And what 

 has here been asserted of color, is equally ap- 

 plicable to peculiarity of form, or quality of 

 flesh. 



When a breed is once brought to that degree 

 of perfection it is capable ol, the same care 



must be used in the continuance, as was shoi( ^'l 

 in the formation itself; or as you have just ^ 

 observed, " what has been produced by ai 'f" 

 must be continued by the same means."' Fo "" 

 though animals that are themselves good, ai "'" 

 have also been descended from a long race '" 

 valuable progenitors, are by no means likely '•■" 

 produce, even in a single instance, a bad o, ''"''' 

 spring ; yet 1 think it will no more be conten '"''" 

 ed. that every animal produced by the same p "J 

 rents, is precisely of the same value, than th •* 

 the red color in the Devon cattle is precisely '"' 

 the same shade in each individual, or that tl '*'' 

 horjis of the Lancashire are exactly of the sam ''!" 

 length. It has already been observed indee i** 

 that there is a strong tendency for like to pri '■'''' 

 dace like, that there is a slight tendency I K 

 change, and that nature, moreover, somctim •"' 

 deviates from her common course. If, ho» *'•" 

 ever, such a deviation takes place, it may b k 

 continued; as experience teaches both in tb '*' 

 animal and vegetable kingdom. And hence wi '"' 

 very clearly follow, the impropriety of kee| *' 

 ing a bad animal, on pretence that it is well d( i'" 

 scended; an error which some Breeders hav •^'" 

 fallen into, if not in judgment, at least in prai * 

 tice. Hence also it will appear, that this defei «' 

 live kind of animal of which 1 have been jui *' 

 speaking, is generally produced from some mil f* 

 ture of impure blood, or that the breed has bee ''^= 

 declining through several generations ; in e: la- 

 ther of which cases it can never be said to b 'i 

 well descended. For, in order that an anim: *s 

 may be well bred, it is not sufficient that we ar s» 

 able to trace it to parents, the most perfect ( !^ 

 their kind; but every intermediate gradatio !' 

 ought also to be good. It will appear too, froii '■ 

 what has been advanced on the formation, tbiM 

 descent, and continuance of improved stoclnct 

 that no animal can be depended upon for breet 'ti 

 ing, but what is in itself good, and is moreovc 

 well bred in the strictest sc/ise of the words. 



If may not be improper to observe, both wit. 

 respect to the improvement and the decline c 

 breeds, that they are in general gradual, ani 

 proceed but slowly through several generations * 

 And hence, it is not at all inconsistent to say 

 that " animals have at length been produced ve 

 ry unlike their original slock;" and yet, at th-f 

 same time, there is a strong tendency for '• like t 

 produce like." But this remark respecting thi 

 slowness of change, refers to distinct breeds 

 and also where any particular family is not era- 

 sed with others that are much better or mm 

 worse of the same kind ; nor does it include ad 

 ventitious circumstances, as pasturage, climate 

 kc. And it is on account of this slowness o 

 procedure, that so many, ^vho have originalh 

 engaged in the improvement of stock have beei 

 obliged to expend a considerable sum of mone' 

 before they could obtain any material advantage 

 while those who have purchased of that stock, 

 when improved, have reaped an immediate, and 

 even a large profit. 



With respect to crossing distinct breeds ; il 

 may be proper to divide the subject into one or 

 two separate heads. And first, as to what may 

 reasonably be expected from such a union. — i 

 Here you remark, sir, that " you do not, by 

 any means, approve of mixing two distinct 

 breeds, with the view of uniting the valuably 

 properties of both." And from what follows, 1 

 conclude the import of the words to be, with 

 the view of uniting these properties in the fuH 



