HYGIENE OF BREEDING 895 



them well for several seasons, but the result, in our experi- 

 ence, has always been a more or less complete failure. In 

 a considerable number of cases such a mare refuses to breed 

 at all, and, if she does breed, the offspring is usually very 

 small and weedy, unless she happens to have carried a foal 

 at an earlier age. 



Exactly the same result may be expected in breeding 

 from old, worn-out mares which are past work in the 

 streets and frequently unsound. The reason, we think, is 

 the one we have already mentioned, viz., that the genital 

 organs have become atrophied from continued disuse, and 

 cannot be expected ever to develop to the same extent as 

 they would have done in youth. The os uteri at the same 

 time becomes contracted and hard, and accounts for the 

 large proportion of failures to breed. 



In addition to that, an animal which is more or less 

 worn out should never be bred from, as the offspring, even 

 if the genital organs are sufficiently roomy for its full 

 development, cannot fail to lack robustness of constitution, 

 and will also probably have the disadvantage of an inferior 

 supply of milk. Breeders as a rule find that it does not pay 

 to keep a dam for breeding purposes after she has passed 

 her prime, unless she is a very exceptional animal, when 

 it will be worth while to give the offspring artificial 

 assistance from the day of birth. 



Mating. — The successful mating of the parents is a 

 science in itself, and we think to a certain extent intuitive, 

 depending largely on the possession of the breeders' eye 

 for a good female. The breeder's object in mating is to 

 obtain the desired type, by correcting the faults of one 

 parent by the strong points of the other. 



In scientific breeding of thoroughbred horses, an attempt 

 is made to calculate exactly the effect of the various strains 

 of blood on the offspring ; but, in view of the great liability 

 to variation, even in the offspring of well-bred parents, we 

 doubt if breeding can ever be reduced to so exact a science. 

 The question of the capacity for ' nicking ' also comes in 

 here. Certain strains of blood appear to be particularly 



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