THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 



489 



If one parent belongs to a particular breed, as a cow to ttie 

 Devonshires, and is bred with another of no particular breed, the 

 offspring will resemble the full-bred parent more than the other 

 of common stock, because the form, color, &c, of the full-bred 

 parent have become fixed by a long line of ancestry in which all 

 the ancestors had the same qualities. It does not follow that the 

 full-bred parent gives more than half of the quality to the off- 

 spring, but only that the other half may resemble some of the 

 ancestors of common stock that were quite unlike the low-bred 

 parent. Thus, if a Devonshire cow were bred to a common bull 

 of a white color, more of the calves would be red than white, 

 because all the ancestors on the cow's side were red, and a part of 

 them on the bull's side were probably of the same color. As.many 

 as bred back to the Devonshire side for color would be red ; those 

 that bred back to the common side for color might be black, or 

 brindle, or any other color. It is simply a case in which atavism 

 has an influence, as it always has in nil breeding. There is no 

 law by which a high-bred parent transmits more than half of the 

 organism of the offspring; the low-bred parent has an equal influ- 

 ence in the matter ; but there is more probability that the progeny 

 will resemble the high-bred parent than the common one. If by 

 atavism it resembles any ancestor on the well-bred side, it resem- 

 bles the parent on the same side, for they are all much alike; but 

 if it breeds back to the low-bred side, there has been so much 

 diversity in the ancestors on that side that nothing is certain. 



In breeding for trotters these principles must always be con- 

 sidered. We have no breed of trotters that can be called tho- 

 rough-bred or full-blooded trotters, in the same sense as we speak 

 of the thorough-bred race-horse, or of the thorough-bred Durham 

 or Devonshire cattle ; but we have families of trotters in which 

 the trotting quality has been transmitted for several generations, 

 and in several lines of descent; and, in breeding, the best practice 

 will be that which most nearly conforms to the principles hero 

 stated. The more trotting quality in the family, the greater the 

 probability of its being transmitted to the descendants. 



In choosing a mare to breed from, the same rules are applicable 

 as in choosing a stallion. If a breeder chance to have a mare of 

 good speed and good pedigree, he may expect more from her than 

 from a common mare if both are put to the same horse. It is 

 somewhat the fashion to select thorough-bred mares to breed to 

 trotting stallions, that the spirit and endurance of the thorough- 

 bred may be combined in the colts with the trotting action; and 

 trotting mares are put to thorough-bred stallions with the same 

 object in view. The practice is good, and will improve the breed 

 of trotters in the long run ; but for immediate results, more trotting 



