Breediiuj of Farm-Stock. 
9 
Such a male, in conse(jU(!uce of such ])aronta<^c, will have con- 
centrated within him powers of transmittin<j this character to 
his stock proportioned to the lenf;fth and purity of his pedigree. 
If this male were put to a female poss(!Ssing hereditary powers 
of less powerful character, it is manifest that the mah; will have 
the greatest inlluence upon the offspring and imj)art to it a 
similar disposition for ra})id feeding to that whicli it possessed. 
In this manner we can transmit from the male the ])redisposition 
to form meat economically, whilst in the female we have secured 
the means for bringing this character to the fullest and most 
vigorous development. The more fully these characters are 
possessed by the parents respectively, the more perfect will be 
the. result. It is desirable that the female should not only be 
competent to produce and freely nourish her offspring, but also 
thcat she should not possess strong hereditary powers to oppose 
.and counteract the influence of the male. The male should have 
the guarantee of a well-guarded pedigree for that unstained unity 
of character which by its concentrated energy is so influential 
upon the offspring. 
Some may, however, anticipate that a similar result would be 
attained by breeding from a very well-bred female by means of 
an inferior male. This, however, would not be the case, and a 
moment's consideration will show the cause of this variation. In 
the former case we have a female capable of fully developing and 
nourishing her young, more certain as a breeder, more hardy in 
constitution, and consequently more free from the seeds of disease 
than in the latter. On economical grounds also the contrast is 
great, for by the one plan you require but one valuable and ex- 
pensive male animal, whilst under the other system each of the 
females has to possess this pedigree value. We have therefore 
every inducement to breed from females well adapted to produce 
the finest offspring, and to use male animals capable of imparting 
those qualities which all will admit are desirable for the produc- 
tion of meat. This is no new principle, for it was advt)cated 
more than twenty years ago by the late Lord Spencer, who in the 
1st volume of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal has re- 
corded his conviction that the worse bred the cow may be the 
more fully will the calf resemble the bull. An instance illus- 
trating this principle came under my notice while I was inspect- 
ing one of the late Duke of Bedford's well-managed farms. I 
was very much struck with the superior quality of about 100 or 
120 store pigs, as much alike as possible, and all admirable in 
form and condition. I expressed a wish to purchase some for 
breeding, but I was told, in a reply characterised alike by candour 
and sound judgment, "valuable as they are for feeding, they are 
worthless for breeding." Great as was my first surprise, no ex- 
