74 
THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE OX. 
qualities; so much so, that Bolingbroke, the best bull Mr. Collings 
ever possessed, with several others, ceased to breed from the same 
cause. 
In the new Leicester breed of sheep we have another example. 
Bakewell’s system at the commencement consisted in selecting 
sheep which appeared to have the greatest propensity to fatten, 
and possessing those peculiarities which he considered would pro- 
duce the largest proportion of valuable meat and the smallest 
quantity of bone and offal. 
Much has been said, from time to time, of Bakewelfs system of 
breeding, and the general opinion is, that its chief merit consisted 
in his superior judgment in the selecting and breeding from the 
nearest affinities; and, when others, who have attempted to breed 
in the same manner and from the same stock, failed, the cause of 
failure has been attributed to the want of proper judgment in se- 
lecting those that were perfect, by which unions were made that 
caused a degeneracy instead of improvement. I believe, however, 
that the reason why the breed failed so frequently after being taken 
from his flock — for this is an acknowledged fact — was more to be 
attributed to a difference in the system of rearing instead of breed- 
ing. Mr. Bakewell had only one object in view, and that was ta 
obtain an exuberant growth of fat and muscle; and this he did obtain 
by giving an abundant supply of food, such as milk, or grain, &c., 
from the time the animal was weaned, accompanied with warm 
and comfortable lodging, so that it was no wonder that the same 
stock should suffer a deterioration when attempted to be bred under 
ordinary management. 
Again, in the improved Herefords we have another example. 
This beautiful breed of cattle, which fatten in an extraordinary 
manner at a very early age, owe their celebrity to two cows, called 
Mottle and Pigeon, which were the originators of the breed. This 
history is rather a singular one. Previous to the year 1769, size, 
adaptation to the dairy, and the purposes of labour, were the pro- 
perties chiefly sought for by the breeders of Herefordshire. Mr. 
Tomkins, who was a young man then employed on a farm, and 
having the especial charge of the dairy, in consequence of his 
attention to his master’s interests, and perhaps, what is still stronger, 
to the pretty face of the farmer’s daughter, became his son-in-law. 
On his marriage he obtained the two cows just alluded to, which 
he selected in consequence of their extraordinary tendency to be- 
come fat, and from them originated the present superior breed. 
These examples shew that, in every instance, our best modem 
breeds originated from breeding from fattening animals, or from 
those having a great disposition to fatten. 
1 will now attempt to shew why breeding in this manner will 
