On the Breeding of Cattle and Sheep. 



25 



upon so large a scale as to enable them to keep many male animals 

 at the same time in use. A man, therefore, can usually only look 

 at the general qualities of the females which he possesses, and ob- 

 serve what are the faults most prevalent among them : these he 

 should be particularly careful to avoid in the male which he intends 

 to use. It is sometimes said that a male animal ought to have no 

 faults, and undoubtedly it would be very desirable that this should 

 be the case ; but, unfortunately, no such animal exists. All a man 

 can do, therefore, is, to avoid putting a male and female together 

 whose imperfections are the same, so as not to increase the fault 

 already existing in his stock. If a man breeds upon a large scale, 

 and uses several males at the same time, he can, of course, attend 

 to this more effectually than if he uses only one. In this case, he 

 should select and put together the males and females individually, 

 so as to endeavour to correct any imperfections which either of 

 them shew. Most breeders of sheep, indeed, do use more than 

 one ram, and all who pretend to take any pains in improving their 

 flock divide their ewes, so as to put them with the ram who will 

 most probably effect this object. I need not say that those (some 

 of whom, I am sorry to say, still exist) who turn two or three rams 

 of different shapes and qualities into a field with all their ewes, 

 without attempting to make any selection among them, have no 

 right to expect to be successful breeders ; and if they do expect it, 

 will certainly be disappointed. I believe the general opinion of 

 breeders is, that it is disadvantageous to endeavour to correct any 

 fault in the shape of a female by putting a male to her who pos- 

 sesses, in extraordinary perfection, the merit in which she is defi- 

 cient, but who in som.e other part of his shape is faulty. My 

 experience leads me to say that this mode of endeavouring to cor- 

 rect a fault is frequently successful. It would be better that none 

 of the females from which a man intends to breed should be 

 faulty in shape to any considerable degree, but it almost always 

 will happen that some animals, possessing an excellent constitution, 

 good blood, and a great propensity to fatten, and therefore such as 

 the owner would very unwillingly cull, will fail decidedly in some 

 part of their shape. I would say that, when this is the case, it is 

 worth while to try the experiment of putting to them a male re- 

 markable for his perfection in this failing part ; and, in my opinion, 

 such a male will be more likely to correct the fault, than one who 

 shows no one part of his shape very superior to the rest. The 

 late Mr. Chine, whose eminence as a surgeon is very well known, 

 published a tract upon the breeding of domestic animals, which 

 contained, as might be expected, most valuable information. His 

 suggestions are such as ought to be very carefully attended to ; but 

 it is probable that his meaning has bei^n nji^taken iii one recom- 

 mendation which he gives, namely, thglirtjS^jph. iiie i^^,. under 



