584 TRANSACTIONS OF SUB-SECTION B. 



The following Paper was read in Sub-Section B (Agriculture) : — 



; Points ' in Farm Livestock and their Value to the Scientific Breeder. 

 By K. J. J. Mackenzie, M.A., A.S.I. 



Since Bakewell (1725-95), a Leicestershire yeoman living at Dishley, improved 

 the ' Longhorn ' breed of cattle and the ' Leicester ' breed of sheep through 

 selection and ' in and in breeding,' the advance in the value of British farm 

 stock has been phenomenal. Almost simultaneously with Bakewell's improve- 

 ments in breeding, the work of Jethro Tull and of Lord Charles Townshend led 

 to a new husbandry whereby it was possible to feed cattle and sheep liberally 

 all through the year. It is possible that this latter fact had a great part in the 

 improvement of livestock, and that some of the credit so often given solely to 

 the breeder may be really due to changed environment or conditions of nutrition. 



Great economic results have accrued from the improvement in British breeds 

 of farm livestock begun by Bakewell, but carried on by others and applied by 

 them to other varieties of cattle, sheep, horses, and swine. In fact, during 

 the last hundred years practically all the new countries of the world, as well as 

 many of the older ones nearer us, have drawn on these islands for their pedigree 

 livestock. This fact has played no small part in helping the British agricul- 

 turist to tide over the great depression of the last quarter of the nineteenth 

 century. It is remarkable that, notwithstanding a vast outlay in purchasing 

 foundation stock and in getting men to manage it, a foreign demand for animals of 

 the best type for breeding purposes still exists. 



Great as have been the results obtained in the past by British breeders of 

 livestock, .results which are possibly, as we have seen, partly due to improvements 

 in general agriculture, there is hope of still further advance owing to the work 

 of those investigators who have followed up the discoveries of Mendel and others 

 who have brought the mysteries of breeding within the scope of pure science. 

 It seems likely that a closer study of those indications, spoken of as 'points,' 

 which Bakewell and his immediate, as well as his present-day, followers have 

 used in their practical work, may be of value to the purely academic worker 

 who would bring the result of scientific research to bear upon the question of 

 economic stock-breeding. 



The investigation of such ' points ' demands much research, for at present 

 they are very vaguely defined, and breeders would seem, to a certain extent, to 

 work by intuition rather than by definite knowledge. It would seem necessary, 

 before the practical breeder can be in a position to get help from men of science, 

 to examine these 'points' with care, so that : — 



(a) All the factors which are necessary for the development of any one 

 ' point ' may be ascertained. 



(b) We may know whether the 'points,' necessary for the development of 

 any one particular form of usefulness, may be correlated with ' points ' denoting 

 utility of another sort. 



(c ) We can ascertain whether ' points ' which empirical methods have fixed 

 upon as indications of certain useful faculties are, in fact, necessary to the 

 development of those faculties, or whether they are simply due to fictitious 

 considerations sometimes called 'fancy.' 



The value of certain 'points' supposed to indicate deep-milking properties 

 was investigated by a study of Lord Rayleigh's herds, to which he kindly allowed 

 the writer access. Forty of the best and forty of the worst milkers were 

 measured, and the results worked out by correlation methods. Although the 

 investigation is not complete, it does not appear so far that the ' points ' are 

 closely correlated with milk production. 



If it be found possible by counting or weighing, or in any other accurate 

 manner, to bring the ' points ' sought for within the range of ascertained fact, 

 it will greatly assist the men of science in suggesting improved systems of 

 breeding to the stock-rearer. 



There are many other characteristics, such as 'touch,' 'constitution,' and 

 ' kindliness,' upon which practical men rely, but which cannot be said to be 

 well defined. Such characteristics are, however, held to be of the utmost 

 importance, and it would seem well to investigate them. In fact, to ignore 

 them may be to deprive of very useful help those who wish to emulate in the 

 future the great improvement in the past. 



