364 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



January, 191 4 



Horse Breedi]\£^ 



By \V. H. Potts, Principal of 

 Ilawkesbury College. 



Continued from Last Issue. 



— Causes of Sterility. — 



Shy breeders among mares occa- 

 sionally create some concern. It 

 is claimed, with some e\idence to 

 support the contention, that the 

 higher the breed in the scale of 

 purity, the more irregularly does 

 the animal produce its young, and 

 that mares leading a natural life 

 are more certain foal-getters than 

 those fed and housed under artifi- 

 cial conditions. Darwin points 

 out that " any sort of change in 

 the habits of life of an animal, 

 pro\ided it be great enough, tends 

 in some way to affect the power 

 of rejiroduction." In countries 

 where housing and stall feeding arg 

 practised this may, to a certain; 

 extent, obtain in horse-breeding, 

 but in Australia, owing to constant 

 and abundant simUght e\-en tem- 

 peratures, excellent natural pastur- 

 age, and open spaces, we have ad- 

 vantages that induce sexual fertili- 

 ty, and lessen the percentage of 

 barren mares. Tliis is not neces- 

 sarily a constant factor, however, 

 for the droughts by wh ch we oc- 

 casionally are visited, with their 

 attendant deficiency of succulent 

 feed, bring about a shortage of 

 foals. 



It is also claimed that irregular 

 breeding in mares runs in certain 

 lines of blood. Marshall states : — 



It is well known that the fertili- 

 t)^ of animals which are much in- 

 bred is often reduced, but it is by 

 no means invariably the casie. Tho- 

 roughbred horses are often inbred, 

 and it is interesting to note 

 that in one of the earlier reports 

 of the Royal Commission on Horsei 

 Breeding in England, it is shown 

 that no less than 6o per cent, of 

 the thoroughbred mares in the 

 country fail to have foals each 

 year. 



This relatively large amount of 

 sterility is probably due to a vari- 

 ety- of causes, and not entirelv ow- 

 ing to the results of inbreeding. 



It is pointed out by Ewart, that 

 mares abort most freely from the 

 sixth to ninth week after concep- 

 tion, but it is most difficult to as- 

 certain how many cases of failure 

 to foal are due to this trouble. 



In animals which, as a general 

 rule, breed freely in a state of 

 domestication or under confine- 

 ment, it is probable that nutrition 

 plays the ch'ef part (though by no 

 means the sole part) in regulating 

 the capacity to produce, offspring. 

 That an insufficient or marked ab- 

 normal diet must affect sexual 

 power is almost self evident. An 

 excessive diet, tending towards pro- 

 ducing a fatty condition, is like- 



BAGOT, SHAKES, & LEWIS, Ltd. 



Stock and Station Ag-ents, Wool Brokers, Live Stock Salesmen 

 and Licensed Land Brokers. 



Mana^ng Directora — Gr«Drg« W. Bagot, John Lewia. 

 Wool Manag«n — George Dowling-. Greorg« JaSery. 



Land Manager— Alfred G. Catt. 

 Inspactor of Branchea— Jamea Wilkinaon. 



Salaa of fat and store atock, land, and farm olaaring aalea conducted in 

 any part of iha State. 



All station and farm reqniaitea auppliad ; large asiatea diapoaed of for 

 Cloaer Satilament ; advice given as to beat meana of realiaation ; plana pre- 

 pared. Valuationa made in all parte of South Australia. An efficient 

 ataff dealing with city and suburban propertiee. 



Sellers of house and land property in city, suburbs, and country ars 



raqueatad to aand us particulara. Our large oonxMotion (ovar 20 country 



oaarkets in beat osntrsa hski monthly) plaoa ua in the vsry bast position 

 to dispoas of thaan. 



Splsadid wt«i« in Naw Sooth Walaa and Quaesialand for SaW. 



Hend Office: 18 King William Street, Adelaide. 



wise prejudicial to the proper dis- 

 charge of the reproductiv-e func- 

 tions. As exam.ple of the way in 

 which over-feeding results in a con- 

 dition of sterility, the barren S'hire 

 mares which, in recent years, have 

 been a striking feature at agricu,- 

 tural shows in England may be 

 quotted. 



Definite figures are not available 

 to show to what extent ma)ries are 

 sterile, especiallv during droughts, 

 but those made available by the 

 Horse Breeding Commission in 

 England may be quoted to illus- 

 trate the position. This commis- 

 sion controlled the expenditure of 

 £4o,o(jo per annum for the King's 

 Premiums in the breeding of light 

 horses. During the six years, 1900 

 to 1905 inclusive, 9,230 mares were 

 mated with the King's Premium' 

 stallions, and during that time the 

 highest percentage of foals was 59, 

 which was reached in 1903 and in 

 1905. The, lowest percentage of 

 foals was in 1900, when it fell as 

 low as 52 per cent. 



It has to be remembered, how- 

 ever, that the failure to produce a 

 high percentage may be due to 

 defects in the sires. In round 

 numbers, in the six years under re- 

 view, there were close upon 5,000 

 foals by Premium stallions, or a 

 a fraction over 54 per cent. In 

 the A-ear 1903, we find the pier cent- 

 age of foals ranging from 33 per 

 cent., credited to the sire " Sun- 

 borne," to 88 per cent, credited to 

 the sire " Battlement." Twelve of 

 the twenty-e ght Premium Stal- 

 lions left from 65 to 88 per cent, 

 of foals. In the service season of 

 191 1, fifty King's Premium stal- 

 lions served 3,245 mares, an aver- 

 age of 65 mares per stallion. Oi 

 the 3,245 service fees paid, eighty 

 were in respect of trials ; and out 

 of the 3,165 mares actually cover- 

 ed no information coidd be obtain- 

 ed of the results of the service of 

 245. The particulars of foaling for 

 the remaining 2,920 macros show 

 that 1,567 foals were dropped, giv- 

 ing an average percentage of foal- 

 ing of 53.66. 



From this series of figures, we 

 may summarise the results as "one 

 foal to two mares served." In Aus- 

 tralia, it is considered a fair aver- 

 age of 60 per cent, of foals are 

 dropped amongst draughts. 



Some information may be de- 

 rived from the records kept at the 

 Hawkeslniry Agricultural College, 

 showing the services and foal 

 results each year. It jnay be men- 

 tioned that the mares were mated 



