THE HALF OF THE HERD— THE BUCK 111 



in the main Hermann's type and his excellencies. If, 

 however, Hermann had some unchscovered weakness 

 that had been offset or balanced as long as he was mated 

 to imrelated does, as soon aj he was mated to a group of 

 his own descendants this weakness would appear with 

 fatal uniformity in his inbred and line bred kids. 



Dangers of Inbreeding. — Now just what do we mean 

 by an " unsuspected weakness " ? The reply to this ques- 

 tion lies in part in Chapter X in the story of the little 

 wild buck kid-who perished. Let us set side by side ^\^tll 

 that story another taken from tlie annals of any well- 

 managed herd of pure bred animals in the United States 

 to-day. So scarce, so highly valued are these pure bred 

 animals that no eifort or care is begrudged to the kids, 

 whose arrival is always attended, even if in the middle 

 of the night. To begin our story, a pure bred doe, 

 choicest of the choice, is about to kid. In a spotless pen, 

 bedded deep with fresh, sweet straw, the little ones 

 arrive, a fine big doe first, then a buck — a good little 

 buck, not quite so peppy as his sister, still a good little 

 buck. As in the story of the wild doe, sister arrives first 

 at the source of supplies. But as soon as brother is dried, 

 as soon as he essays his first tottering steps, eager hands 

 are stretched out to help him. He is guided at once to 

 the waiting meal. Sister, to be sure, had had her fill, but 

 has hardly made an impression on that great, generous 

 udder. Little brother drinks and drinks, and comes 



