78 THE COMPLETE POTJLTRY BOOK. 



heredity, but is distinguished from heredity proper, in that it appears only at in- 

 tervals of two or more generations. 



Thus Mr. Darwin states that a gentleman crossed his fowls with Malays, and, 

 though he attempted to get rid of this strain, he gave it up in despair, the Malay 

 characters reappearing forty years after the cross was made. * 



Mr.. Hewitt states that the Eumpless fowls in some instances prqduoe young 

 with tail feathers, but that, when three such birds were selected to breed from, 

 there was but one chick with a tail out of over twenty bred from the trio-t 



The tendency of Berkshire hogs to show' occasional patches of sandy hair is 

 a- familiar illustration of this principle, one of the ancestors of the Berkshire 

 having been a black ajid white and sandy spotted hog.f 



In the human fnmily instances of atavism have been so frequently noticed 

 that Prof. Agassiz has remarked that "the offspring is not the offspring of father 

 and mother only, but of .the grandparents as well." 



The iniluence of heredity upon the character and constitution of the offspring 

 has long been partially acknowledged, but, partly owing to the confusion inci- 

 dent upon the workings of the before-named laws, the value of this influence 

 has not been fully appreciated. Upon this principle depends, in fact, all possi- 

 bility of improvement in our animals and plants, for no permanent advancement 

 can be made unless the improvement gained may be fixed and perpetuated. As 

 greater knowledge is obtained this influence becomes more and more apparent, 

 however, and the means for availing ourselves of its effects better understood, 

 so that we may reasonably hope to accomplish far more in the future than we 

 have in the past in the way of improvement of our domestic anii£als, if not of 

 ourselves. 



Iprbreedifigi or the mating of fowls that are near of kin, is strongly condemned 

 , by most poulterers; the impression being very prevalent that while such 

 mating may result in improved appearance of the offspring, it is certainly fol- 

 lo\yed by impaired constitution. , This question is not yet fuUy understood. 

 There ,can be no denying the fact that a vast improvement has been accomplished 

 in our cattle and sheep by very close breeding, but this improvement was 

 effected in the han.ds of very skillful breeders, and while the testimony of fowl 

 breeders is so united against the process as it is at present, it will be safer for 

 beginners to avoid the practice. 



Orosa-breediaig Is the opposite of in-breeding, and by it many of our varieties 

 of domestic animals have been originated, although in many cases a cross has 

 afterwards been followed up by close in-breeding in order to fix and perpetuate 

 the characteristics obtained. The object of cross-breeding, is of course, the im- 

 provement .of the progeny, either in constitution, or in some useful quality ; 

 but whatever this object may be, it should be definitely fixed and carefully kept 

 in view, else the process will result only in harm instead of benefit. The im- 

 - provement made in our native cattle by the introduction of the Short Horn blood 

 is one of the most striking examples of the benefits to be derived from the intelli- 

 gent use of this process. But this improvement was not due'iimply to the fact 

 that the Short Horn bull was in himself a better animal than the cow upon 



•Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. Tol. 11, p. 49. fTegetmeier's Poul- 

 try Book, p. 231. tYouatt. 



