ANIMAL BREEDING 93 



the best animals of the breed and he will not only tail to work any 

 improvement with them, but he will fail to maintain the high excellence 

 already attained. In a very few generations the herd will come down to 

 fairly good animals, just on a par with his fairly good judgment. The 

 herd is sure soon to show his judgment or lack of judgment. 'By their 

 fruits ye shall know them,' and the product of their skill is the only 

 infallible guide of breeders' real judgment. Our backward track is 

 strewn with hundreds and thousands of cases of men who were fairly 

 competent judges, who bought high-class animals and who failed to 

 maintain the excellence in their descendants. If a man knows not when 

 the features are right or wrong, what are his chances for improving 

 them? 



REPRODUCTION 



In order that animals may reproduce there must be a male 

 and a female. Each of these provides one of the two essential 

 parts in the process of reproduction. 



The female produces the egg which is like the hen's egg 

 only very much smaller and has no hard shell. This is pro- 

 duced in the ovary which lies in the body near the backbone 

 at about the "small of the back." It is supposed that the 

 period of heat is the time when these eggs ripen and pass down 

 to the womb. It is not known how many eggs pass down each 

 time but as a rule more than one. This is true at least in those 

 animals which produce multiple offspring. 



The womb is a pear-shaped organ in the rear part of the 

 abdomen. Its neck lies back into the vagina which opens 

 to the exterior by means of the vulva. The womb is simply an 

 organ in which the foetus or new unborn individual develops. 

 It can also develop in the abdominal cavity but the womb is 

 the natural place and was made for that purpose. 



The real live or vital part of the egg is the nucleus, a small 

 part in the center or elsewhere in the egg. The balance of the 

 egg is food material for the new individual when it starts to 

 grow as a new and separate individual. 



The male animal produces the other half of the necessary 

 part of reproduction. This is called the sperm cell. These 

 cells are produced in the testicles, which are glands. When 

 an animal is castrated, these glands are removed. The 

 animal can then no longer be used as a sire. As these sperm 

 cells are produced they pass up into the body and are stored for 



