THE SOUTHERN PLANTER; 



mzbom to ^srtcultttre, horticulture, antr the ^ouseftotti girts* 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. I Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 



Xenophon. J State. — Sully. 



C. T. BOTTS & L. M. BURFOOT, Editors. 



Vol. III. 



RICHMOND, JUNE, 1843. 



No. 6. 



RULES FOR BREEDING. 



Although there is a great discrepancy of opi- 

 nion upon some portions of the mysterious art 

 of breeding-, the following precepts, from the 

 pen of one of the most distinguished anatomists 

 in Europe, Professor Cline, are, we believe, 

 universally received as established doctrines 

 amongst those who have the best right to know ; 

 although dame nature sometimes amuses herself 

 in setting at naught, the most ingenious theories 

 of philosophers. 



When the professor objects to large bones he 

 must not be misunderstood. From the bone 

 and muscle strength is derived, and, we presume, 

 the greater the quantity of either, the greater 

 will be the strength of the animal: but the 

 quantity is not always to be measured by size ; 

 indeed, as Mr. Cline remarks, they are generally 

 found in an inverse ratio. In some animals a 

 much greater quantity, both of muscle and bone, 

 is condensed into a much smaller space than in 

 others, and this constitutes the great physical 

 difference between the Arabian and their de- 

 scendants, commonly styled "blooded horses," 

 and those of other descriptions. The ivory of 

 the blooded-horse will always outweigh, though 

 it will never outmeasure, the open, porous bone 

 of the cart-horse. But where the density of 

 fibre is equal, size will indicate quantity, and 

 therefore, strength. With equal quality of bone 

 and muscle then, the largest animal will always 

 be the most powerful. With this commentary, 

 we give to our readers the Professor's opinions 

 upon the following subjects : 



"Muscles. — The muscles and tendons, which 

 are their appendages, should be large ; by which 

 an animal is enabled to travel with 'greater fa- 

 cility. 



11 The Bones. — The strength of an animal does 

 not depend on the size of the bones, but on that 

 of the muscles. Many animals with large 

 bones are weak, their muscles being small. — 

 Animals that were imperfectly nourished during 

 growth, have their bones disproportionably large. 

 If such deficiency of nourishment originated 

 Vol. III.— 16 



from a constitutional defect, which is the most 

 frequent cause, they remain weak during life. 

 Large bones, therefore, generally indicate an 

 imperfection in the organs of nutrition. 



"O/? the Improvement of the Form. — When the 

 male is much larger than the female, the off- 

 spring is generally of an imperfect form. If 

 the female be proportionably larger, the offspring 

 is of an improved form. For instance, if a well- 

 formed large ram be put to ewes proportionably 

 smaller, the lambs will not be so well shaped as 

 their parents ; but if a small ram be put to larger 

 ewes, the lambs will be of an improved form. 



" The proper method of improving the form 

 of animals consists in selecting a well-formed 

 female, proportionably larger than the male. — 

 The improvement depends on this principle : that 

 the power of the female to supply her offspring 

 with nourishment is in proportion to her size, 

 and to the power of nourishing herself from the 

 excellence of her own constitution. 



" The size of the foetus is generally in pro- 

 portion to that of the male parent, and therefore 

 when the female parent is disproportionably 

 small, the quantity of nourishment is deficient, 

 and her offspring has all the disproportions of a 

 starveling. But when the female, from her size 

 and good constitution, is more than adequate to 

 the nourishment of a foetus of a smaller male 

 than herself, the growth must be proportionably 

 greater. The large female has also a greater 

 quantity of milk, and her offspring is more than 

 abundantlysupplied with nourishment after birth. 



" To produce the most perfect-formed animal, 

 abundant nourishment is necessary from the ear- 

 liest period of its existence until its growth is 

 complete. 



£t The power to prepare the greatest quantity 

 of nourishment from a given quantity of food, 

 depends principally upon the magnitude of the 

 lungs, to which the organs of digestion are sub- 

 servient. 



" To obtain animals with large lungs, crossing 

 is the most expeditious method, because well- 

 formed females may be selected from a variety 

 of large size to be put to a well-formed male of 

 a variety that is rather smaller. 



" Examples of the Good Effects of Crossing 

 the Breeds. — The great improvement of the breed 

 of horses in England arose from crossing with 

 those diminutive stallions, Barbs and Arabians; 

 and the introduction of Flanders mares into this 



