124 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
In the cultivation of your farm, do you allow the use of 
ardent spirits ? 
The trustees are desirous that these questions should be 
answered with as much particularity as possible. The ap¬ 
plicant will not, however, be required to answer them under 
oath, but according to the best of his knowledge and belief. 
The trustees hope, and believe that by the method pro¬ 
posed, many important facts may be elicited, and the farm¬ 
ing community enable to derive much useful information 
from the skill and experience of practical farmers. 
N. B.—Claims to be addressed to Benjamin Guild, Esq. 
in Boston, before the first day of October next. 
(Form of the Application .) 
To Benjamin Guild, Esq., Boston: 
Sir: The subscriber, living in the town of , here¬ 
by makes known his intention of applying for a premium 
for the best farm, and offers the same for inspection. 
On the Selection of Male Animals in the Breeding 
of Cattle and Sheep. 
BY THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER. 
More from wishing to set an example to others, than from 
any hope that what I myself can suggest will be practically 
useful, I submit to the English Agricultural Society the re¬ 
sults of my experience in an important part of that division 
of farming, to which my own attention has been particularly 
applied,—I mean the breeding of stock. The part to which 
the following observations apply is the selection of male ani¬ 
mals. A large proportion of farmers breed sheep, and several 
breed cattle; to all who breed either, this subject is one of 
great importance. 
The object of a certain number is to breed bulls or rams 
for the purpose of selling or letting them, but that of the 
majority is to breed oxen or wethers for the purpose of graz¬ 
ing. The first of these classes is very well aware of the im¬ 
portance of selecting good male animals, and profess to spare 
no trouble, and to be very indifferent as to the expense which 
they incur in obtaining them; but with respect to those 
whose object it is only to breed oxen or wethers, I am afraid 
the case is generally very different, and they take very little 
trouble and expend as little money as possible in procuring 
the male animals to which they put their females; that is, 
they consider as a matter of indifference that on which the 
profitable or unprofitable nature of their occupation mainly 
depends. 
It is admitted by every one that the bodily and constitu¬ 
tional qualities of the offspring are usually similar to those 
of the parents, either combining in various proportions the 
qualities of both parents, or taking entirely after one. I 
should say, as respects cattle and sheep, that in most cases, 
the qualities of the male parent predominate in the offspring. 
I have also observed that the worse-bred the female is, the 
more will this be the case when she is put to a well-bred 
male. This observation was first made, I believe, by the 
late Mr. Berry, in an essay, for which lie received a prize 
from the Highland Society. He accounted for it thus: a 
well-bred animal means one whose ancestors for several suc¬ 
cessive generations have all been good, that is, have all pos¬ 
sessed the peculiarities in constitution and shape which it is 
the object of experienced graziers to obtain in their stock. 
The characteristic, therefore, of the family of such an ani¬ 
mal will be such peculiarities; but the ancestors of a badly- 
bred animal will probably have varied in every possible way, 
and therefore there will be no distinguishing characteristic 
in its family; it is consequently most probable that the off¬ 
spring produced from a cross between two animals so cir¬ 
cumstanced will be more like the one in whose family there 
is a distinguishing characteristic, than the one in whoso fa¬ 
mily no such characteristic exists. The common, but, I be¬ 
lieve, mistaken notion, that the offspring from the first cross 
is better than that from any subsequent one, probably arises 
from the improvement in the first instance being so much 
more apparent than, for the reason given above, it is likely 
to be in any one generation afterwards. Now it is known 
to all graziers that the attempt to fatten an animal, who pos¬ 
sesses no feeding propensities, produces loss instead of pro¬ 
fit. If the above observations are correct, the feeding pro¬ 
pensities descend from the sire; it is quite just, therefore, to 
say that a breeder of cattle or sheep, who considers it a mat¬ 
ter of indifference what sort of male animal he uses, does con¬ 
sider it a matter of indifference whether he gains profit or in¬ 
curs loss. 
The first object which any breeder of cattle or sheep must 
keep in view, whether he intends to breed bulls or rams, 
or whether his aim is merely to breed oxen or wethers, is 
that the stock which he breeds shall be healthy. The first 
thing, therefore, to be considered in the selection of a male 
animal, are the indications by which it may be possible to 
form a judgment as to his constitution. In all animals a 
wide chest indicates strength of constitution, and there can 
be no doubt that this is the point of shape to which it is 
most material for any breeder to look in the selection either 
of a bull or a ram. In order to ascertain that the chest of 
these animals is wide, it is not sufficient to observe that they 
have wide bosoms, but the width which is perceived by look¬ 
ing at them in the front should be continued along the brisk¬ 
et, which ought to show great fulness in the part which is 
just under the elbows; it is also necessary that they should 
he what is called thick through the heart. Another indica¬ 
tion of a good constitution is, that a male animal should have 
a masculine appearance; with this view a certain degree of 
coarseness is by no means objectionable, but this coarseness 
should not be such as would be likely to show 7 itself in a 
castrated animal, because it thus might happen that the 
oxen or wethers produced from such a sire would be coarse 
also, which in them would be a fault. Another point to be 
attended to, not merely as an indication of a good constitu¬ 
tion, but as a merit in itself, is that an animal should exhi¬ 
bit great muscular power, or rather that his muscles should 
be large. This is an usual accompaniment of strength of 
constitution, but it also shows that there will be a good pro¬ 
portionate mixture of lean and fat in the meat produced from 
the animal; the muscles being that part which in meat is 
lean. A thick neck is in both bulls and rams a proof of the 
muscles being large, and there can hardly be a greater fault 
in the shape of a male animal, of either sort, than his having 
a thin neck. I am inclined to say, that in the new Leicester 
breed of sheep, which is the breed to which I am accusiomed, 
a ram’s neck cannot be too thick. Other indications of mus¬ 
cle are more difficult to observe in sheep than in cattle. In 
a bull there ought to be a full muscle on each side of the 
back bone, just behind the top of the shoulderblades; he 
ought also to have the muscles on the outside of the thigh 
full, and extending down nearly to the hough. It will sel¬ 
dom happen that a bull having these indications will be 
found deficient in muscle. With respect to rams, my own 
observation does not enable me to point out any other indi¬ 
cations of muscle except the thickness of the neck, which I 
have mentioned above; if other farmers are able to point out 
any, I would only say there is scarcely anything to which 
they ought to pay greater attention. 
As I am writing for the use of farmers, it is quite unneces¬ 
sary for me to attempt to give a description of what is con¬ 
sidered a w'ell-shaped bull or ram; it is also obviously im¬ 
possible to express in words w'hat is meant by good hand¬ 
ling. It is sufficient to say, therefore, that no male animal 
is fit to be used at all as a sire whose handling is not good, 
and that the more perfect his shape is the better. The 
above observations apply to breeding generally; for what¬ 
ever may be the sort or size of the animal intended to be 
produced, there is no doubt but that good health, propensity 
to fatten, and good shape, in all cases, ought to be aimed at. 
But there are not only different breeds, both of cattle and 
sheep, but experienced and very good farmers differ very 
much in opinion as to which peculiarities of shape and size 
are to be preferred, even among animals of the same breed. 
It is therefore very desirable, before any man commences 
to breed either cattie or sheep, that he should make up his 
mind as to the shape and qualities he wishes to obtain, and 
steadily pursue this object; if he does so, there is very little 
doubt but that he will succeed in having a herd of cattle or 
a flock of sheep possessing the characteristics which he at 
first intended they should possess; but if, on the other hand, 
he breeds at one time with the view of obtaining animals 
possessing one sort of shape, and at another time with the 
view of obtaining animals possessing a different sort of 
shape, the probability is, that his stock will possess neither 
the one nor the other in any degree of perfection. Having 
made this decision, he should take care that the individual 
male animal which he uses shall possess the qualities which 
he requires. In addition to this, it is of great importance 
that these qualities should have been characteristic of the 
family from which the animal is descended; and if he is old 
enough to have been the sire of any number of offspring, it 
is of a great deal more importance still that they should pos¬ 
sess them. Because all the perfections of shape and quality 
which the best judge may wish to find in a male animal are, 
after all, only indications of what the stock got by him will 
probably be; the seeing, therefore, what they really are, is 
much more satisfactory. 
There are few breeders, of cattle more especially, who 
breed 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 observe what are the faults most 
prevalent among them; these he should be particularly care¬ 
ful to avoid in the male which he intends to use. It is some¬ 
times 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 in¬ 
crease 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 endea¬ 
vor to correct any imperfections which either of them show. 
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 selec¬ 
tion among them, have no right to expect to be successful 
breeders; and if they do expect it, will certainly be disap¬ 
pointed. I believe the general opinion of breeders is, that it 
is disadvantageous to endeavor to correct any fault in the 
shape of a female by putting a male to her who possesses, in 
extraordinary perfection, the merit in which she is deficient, 
but who in some other part of his shape is faulty. My expe¬ 
rience leads me to say that this mode of endeavoring 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 unwil¬ 
lingly 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 remarkable 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. Cline, 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 valua¬ 
ble information. His suggestions are such as ought to be 
very carefully attended to; but it is probable that his mean¬ 
ing has been mistaken in one recommendation which he 
gives, namely, that in which he is understood to say that it 
is always desirable that the male should he smaller than the 
female. When he makes this observation he is speaking of 
the crossing of different breed, and probably only means that 
in a cross between a large breed and a small one, the male 
should be taken from the small breed, and the female from 
the large one. It is hardly possible that he intended to say 
that in^the same breed the male ought to be smaller than the 
female, because this is contrary to the practice of nature. In 
every description of land animal with which I am acquainted, 
the males are of a larger size than the females. The attempt 
also to follow this advice would undoubtedly, in a few gene¬ 
rations, so very much reduce the size both of males and fe¬ 
males, as considerably to diminish their value. I can say, 
from my own experience, that some of the best shaped ani¬ 
mals which I have bred have been produced by following a 
contrary course. I prefer breeding from large females; but 
if I do breed from one which I think too small, I put to her 
the largest male of good shape that I possess. As one in¬ 
stance among several to prove that this course may be suc¬ 
cessful, the ox which I showed in the fourth class, at the 
last Smithfield show, and which obtained the prize in that 
class, was by the largest bull I have, from a cow so small, 
that I culled her after she had bred that one calf. It must 
be admitted that the theoretical reasoning which Mr. Cline 
adduces in support of this recommendation appears to be 
very conclusive; but, even in the restricted sense in which 
I understand it, there is some doubts whether it is practical¬ 
ly correct. The most successful cross between two different 
breeds of cattle, of which I am aware, was the one between 
a Durham bull and a Galloway Scotch cow, made by Mr. 
Charles Colling. The produce from this cross sold for enor¬ 
mous prices at his sale, and at the present day a majority of 
the best short-horned cattle are descended from it. My opi¬ 
nion, then, the result of my own practical experience, is, 
that if a man considers the female animals which he possess¬ 
es to be smaller than he wishes, he may safely put them to 
a male of large size, provided he is well bred, of good qua¬ 
lity, and is well shaped. But I am bound to add, that I 
know, in giving this opinion, I differ from the most skilful 
and successful breeders with whom I am acquainted. 
It follows from the above observations, if they are correct, 
that the first and most indispensable object which all breed¬ 
ers must try to obtain, whatever may be the sort of animals 
they wish to have, whatever may be the shape or size they 
prefer, is that the male animal which they select shall pos¬ 
sess a strong and healthy constitution. This is absolutely 
essential; but it is also most conducive to their success that 
they shall, after due consideration, make up their minds as 
to the qualities which they wish their stock to possess; that, 
having made this decision, they shall steadily pursue the ob¬ 
ject they have in view, and endeavor to select such males 
as shall be likely to get offspring possessing these qualities; 
that they shall carefully and candidly examine the females 
from which they intend to breed, observe the faults in shape 
or quality which prevail among them, and select males who 
shall possess corresponding perfections. That the safest 
mode of ascertaining what are likely to be the qualities of 
the produce from a male in future is, where there is the op¬ 
portunity, to see what are the qualities of the offspring al¬ 
ready produced from them; then, the next to this is, to ob¬ 
serve what are the qualities of the family to which he be¬ 
longs; and that in the case of not having the opportunity of 
making use of either of these guides, they may assume that 
it is probable that the qualities of the individual himself, 
which in all cases ought to be attended to, will, if he is well 
bred, descend to his offspring. 
It has already been said that there are two classes among 
the farmers who breed cattle and sheep; the one, of those 
who breed bulls or rams, and the other, of those who breed 
oxen or wethers for the purpose of grazing only: the above 
observations are intended to apply to both. But much more 
attention ought to be paid by the first of these classes to the 
selection of the animals from which they breed than is abso¬ 
lutely necessary in the other. This is essential to their own 
interest, because a male animal very often shows faults in 
his shape which if he had been castrated, would not have 
appeared. It frequently, therefore, happens that the produce 
from a bull or ram may prove excellent cattle or sheep for 
grazing purposes only, but may be totally unfit to be kept 
as the sires of future stock. Their duty also to those who 
hire or buy from them imposes upon them the obligation to 
pay the strictest and most minute attention to the qualities 
of their male animals; more particularly, they are bound not 
to offer to their customers any one, of the health of which 
they have any reason whatever to doubt, whether this 
doubt arises from any weakness of constitution, which may 
have appeared in the individual himself, or whether it arises 
from their knowledge of the family from w hich he is descend¬ 
ed. They are bound also, not to keep as males any animals 
wdio are not perfectly well bred. It does not follow from 
this, that a long pedigree is in all cases necessary, although 
it is generally desirable; but it sometimes happens that a fe¬ 
male, of whose pedigree the owner is ignorant, will have 
produced offspring which have all possessed extraordinary 
merit, a id wdiich have proved themselves good breeders 
also; a male descended from such a female may be considered 
perfectly well bred on her side; and will, very possibly, 
prove a better sire than many whose pedigree on paper is 
much longer. 
In paying this minute attention to their occupation, the 
breeders of male animals have some advantages not possess¬ 
ed by others: they have generally the opportunity of know¬ 
ing accurately what are the characteristics of the families 
from which they breed, an opportunity not possessed by 
those who breed only for grazing purposes. In order to 
make a proper use of this advantage, they ought to keep ac¬ 
curate pedigrees of their cattle and of their sheep, and as far 
as possible, when they put the males and females together, 
recollect what have been the respective qualities of the an¬ 
cestors of each. They have also the opportunity, by using 
a male cautiously at an early age, of knowing by experi¬ 
ment, whether the stock produced from him is good or bad, 
before they run the risk of injuring their stock materially by 
using him largely. This may be ascertained with sufficient 
accuracy when the produce are very young; for an experi¬ 
enced breeder can judge with tolerable certainty what will 
be the shape of a calf or a lamb when it grows up, by seeing 
it soon after it is born, and before it has begun to lay on fat. 
Nor is it necessary to see many of the produce for the purpose 
of deciding what its general characteristics will probably be. 
I admit that in saying this I am speaking more from my ex¬ 
perience as a breeder of cattle than a breeder of sheep, but I 
believe the same observations w ; ill apply to both. It is cer¬ 
tain, however, that seeing four or five calves from a bull, 
ought to be a sufficient guide to the breeder as to whether lie 
will be valuable as a sire or not. Unless there is a family 
likeness which generally pervades through the produce from 
a bull, although he may be valuable as the sire of oxen, 
it will not be safe to use him as the sire of bulls. The 
seeing, therefore, four or five calves will prove to the breeder 
whether there is such a family likeness among them, and 
whether it exhibits itself in such qualities as indicate that 
when they grow up they will be valuable animals. 
There is one failing to which all breeders are liable, but 
to which the breeder of male animals, from the greater in¬ 
terest attached to his occupation, is more peculiarly liable, 
and against which he ought most carefully to guard himself; 
