Management of Farm-Horses. 
257 
as regards the size, general appearance, external form, and mus- 
cular development, the influence of the male is superior to that of 
the female. But, although in obedience to this principle I 
believe that it is principally by means of the male that various 
improved breeds will be rendered more perfect, yet I by no 
means wish it to be inferred that I consider the qualities of the 
female a matter of indifference. So far from this being the case, 
I would censure in the strongest terms that utter neglect of the 
qualifications of the female which is so frequently displayed — 
particularly with horses — regarding it as the most grievous error 
appertaining to breeding. It is of equal importance to study the 
qualification of the female as of the male, though their respective 
excellences may not be the same. Hereditary disease and 
weakness of constitution are much more likely to be communi- 
cated to the offspring by the mother than by the father, which is in 
keeping with the fact of the long and intimate connexion kept 
up between the dam and the offspring, both before and after birth, 
till weaning takes place. As the same blood nourishes both, 
both are likely to become affected by any unhealthy change in 
this fluid. Soundness of constitution is therefore an indispensable 
requisite in the female. 
I offer these remarks as general rules, but by no means as 
rules without exceptions ; and I do not wish it to be inferred 
that the female has no influence in those qualifications in which 
the male is pre-eminent, for it sometimes happens that the female 
has greater influence in these respects than the male, and in all 
cases some degree is possessed. Thus, when a handsome well- 
bred mare is covered by a large coarse stallion, the defects of the 
latter are generally considerably softened down — the head is finer, 
and the frame of the offspring, though larger than that of the dam, 
is handsomer than that of the sire. The result of this cross is 
generally superior to an opposite assortment, where the sire is 
thorough bred and the dam a coarse heavy animal. The progeny 
in this case is often unequal and ill arranged, possessing perhaps 
the fine legs of the sire and the coarse body of the dam. We 
may, therefore, with much propriety endeavour to modify the 
defects of one parent by opposite qualities in the other ; and 
though we may not always, we shall often, succeed to a certain 
extent in the accomplishment of our wishes. We shall succeed, 
however, the more perfectly by attending to those qualities in 
which the respective influence of the male and the female is 
most likely to be exercised: that is, the size and external con- 
formation we should seek to govern by means of the male, and 
the constitution and nervous system through that of the female. 
The fact, however, of the male animal begetting from 50 to 
100 offspring in the course of a year, whilst the female does not 
