THE CULTIVATOR. 
106 
IMPROVEMENT OF DOMESTIC STOCK. 
Few things are of more importance to the agricultural 
interest of a country, than their domestic animals; and any 
decided improvement in the breeds, forms a solid addi¬ 
tion to the productive wealth of a nation. For. instance, 
any change in the character of our cattle, which, by add¬ 
ing to their weight, aptitude to feed, early maturity, 
&c. should give a gain of twenty per cent on their value, 
would increase the worth of this item alone about tifty 
millions of dollars. That such an improvement might 
be made on the common stock of this country, there are 
few intelligent men that at the present time will doubt. 
Facts and experience are most conclusive on this point; 
and . what is true of catde, will also hold true of all oth¬ 
er varieties of domestic animals. 
Blit while most will readily admit the necessits’’ and 
practicability of improvement, there are some differences 
of oidnion among practical and well informed men as 
to the best methods of effecting it. Some contend that 
the only rational prospect of improvement is to be found 
in introducing foreign stock, and breeding from these, 
to the exclusion of all native animals. There are others 
Who maintain as strenuously that there is no necessity 
whatever for any introduction of foreign blood; that we 
have among ourselves, and in our own herds, all that is 
necessary to produce as perfect animals as any of the 
improved breeds of Europe. Others assert that the truth 
lies mill way between these extreme opinions; that the 
true course is to import valuable animals, if they can be 
obtained, from abroad, and breed them to our most va¬ 
luable and choice stock, taking care to select such as are 
the bestadapted to produce any given result or quality. 
We shall examine these opinions in their order. 
Careful and skillful breeding lies at the foundation of 
all improvement in stock, and this is mainly effected by 
judicious selections. Color, form, quality and disposi¬ 
tion, are all under the control of the breeder. He can 
equalize and harmonize the whole, or he can develop 
one point at the expense of the others. It is rare, in¬ 
deed, perhaps never, that any single point is found in 
its highest degree of excellence, except at the expense 
of some other quality. Thus the taking on flesh rapidly, 
is incompatible, from the very nature of the case, with 
a copious secretion of milk; and the deepest and best 
milkers of the herd, may usually be set down as the 
most raw boned, not to say worst looking of the whole. 
The reason of this is obviou.s: the quantity of nutritive 
matter taken in the food is of necessity limited, and it 
is impossible for it to perform two offices, or rather be 
in two places at once. It cannot go to the formation of 
flesh and fat, and yet be secreted in the form of milk. 
The term best, then, as usually applied, may admit of a 
different meaning. The best animal for the grazier or 
butcher, is not necessarily the best for the dairyman; 
although there are few ileep milkers that will not, when 
the secreiion of milk is suspended, take on flesh rapid¬ 
ly^—a fact which shows the incompaiibility of the tw'o. 
The best animal, or the one which it should be the ob¬ 
ject of the breeiler to produce, is the one that combines 
the most valuable qualities, and it is in this sense that 
the term should be always understood. 
The number of those who insist that we are to look 
to England, and to the produce of importations from 
that country alone, for the improvement of our stock, 
is of course limited. There is something absurd in the 
idea of replacing the ten millions of our native cattle by 
imported ones, or their progeny, in any reasonable term 
of years. Besides, had we the means to make the im¬ 
portation, they have not the animals for us. Notwith- 
gtanding.the attention paid to the breeding of animals in 
England, the number of the improved animals is still 
limited; and though cattle to meet any demand might 
be supplied, such as we should require, or ought to re¬ 
quire, could not be had. Great changes in the character 
of the stock of any country, demand time. It has taken 
more than two hundred years since Gov. Winslow intro¬ 
duced the first three heifers and one bull into this coun¬ 
try, to bring up our stock to its present numbers. This 
was in 1624; and time would enable us to fill our coun¬ 
try, with imported stock, were it necessary to wait for 
such a consummation. As the question, however, re¬ 
lates to present improvement, the idea of depending 
on importation wholly, must be discarded. 
The second position, viz: that we have in our present 
native herds all the materials necessary for improve¬ 
ment, and that a recurrence to foreign Improved breeds 
is unnecessary, is far more plausible, and has a much 
greater number of supporters, than the one we have just 
considered. It is argued, and truly, that all the im¬ 
proved breeds are made up breeds; that it is idle to 
seek for what may be called an original breed; that the 
varieties of domestic cattle are depending on climate, 
crosses, or perhaps in some instances on accidental cu- 
cumstanees; that the improved cattle of England have 
been bred almost within the memory of man, from old 
varieties already existing there; that what has been al¬ 
ready done, may be done again; and that nothing but 
the same judgment in selecting animals to breed from, 
and the same skill and perseverance in following the 
laws,of breeding to their results, is wanting, to pro¬ 
duce as valuable stock from our native varieties, as has 
been produced from the native varieties of England. 
We have purposely stated this argument in its strongest 
form; because, while we admit the possibility of pro¬ 
ducing, in this country, improved breeds equal perhaps 
in value to those at present existing in Europe,we think 
it would be the height of folly to undertake the task, m 
preference to availing ourselves of the labors and skill 
of European breeders. To make ourselves understood, 
we will select the Short Horns or Durhams, as the breed 
best known, for the purpose of illustration. 
We can .trace the Short Horns, as a distinct breed, to 
its originators, Charles and Robert Ceilings, some fifty 
years since. Others, as Berry and Coates, co-operated 
most effectually in forwarding the improvement com¬ 
menced by them; and within the last twenty years, the 
number of breeders of this stock has multiplied in every 
part of England. It cannot be denied that more skill 
has been exhibited, a greater acquaintance with the 
true principles Of the improvement of stock acquired, 
and the real points that constitute the value of animals 
more fully developed in this case, than in any previous 
instance. Scarcely a variety of domestic cattle can be 
found, from which animals may not be selected, with 
one or more points as faultless, and as well developed, 
as in the improved stock; but in most cases, these valu¬ 
able points must be considered as accidental, as experi¬ 
ence proves there is no certainty of their being conti¬ 
nued in their offspring. The science of breeding con¬ 
sists in uniting in one animal as many of these valuable 
properties as possible, and rendering them constitu¬ 
tional and permanent, so that they may descend to their 
progen)'-, or so that the danger of their loss may be 
avoided. This is what has been done in the case of 
the. Short Horns. That their excellencies are permanent, 
and fixed in the breed, is proved by their invariably 
imparting more or less of them to any variety with 
which they are crossed; that the blemishes and faults 
occasionally to be found in them, are to be considered as 
accidental, and not inherent in the breed, is proved by 
the fact that these defects are rarely propagated, or re¬ 
produced in their progeny. It has taken at least fifty 
years to bring up the Short Horns to this point of excel¬ 
lence; and there is no probability whatever that any 
modern skill or knowledge could materially shorten this 
period in engrafting these valuable qualities upon the 
native stock of this country, by simple selection and 
breeding from our varieties alone. We must, then, to 
raise up an American breed from native stock only, 
combining as many valuable qualities as the Short Horns 
at present possess, employ some fifty years, with much 
labor and money, and then find ourselves at precisely 
the point .of improvement where the English breeders 
now are. We think, then, that the advocates of an ex¬ 
clusive American breed, or one produced from our na¬ 
tive varieties, without reference to foreign stock, are 
guilty of as great an absurdity as those who would rely 
on imported stock only, to replace with an improved 
stock our native herds. 
The third course for improvement is that of those 
i'ho believe that the best way is, to obtain the best and 
ighest bred animals from abroad, when such can be 
rocured, and breed them to our best and choicest na¬ 
ive stock, having reference, in our selection of ani¬ 
mals, to those points we consider most aasirabio m 
tock, or in which, perhaps, the imported are th© most 
encient. And this is the method to which we give a 
ecided preference, and to which, it is believed, \ve 
nust resort and adhere, before any essential change in 
he character of our stock, generally, will be effected. 
There are some who seem to suppose that we are to 
egard the high bred imported animals as perfect, and 
ncapable, by any skill of breeding, of further improve- 
nent. No breeder, howevei', who has any knowledge 
if his profession, will view.the matter in that light. He 
ees in the Short Horns, for instance, animals very 
uperior to the common stock of the country; animals 
hat combine a far greater number of valuable points, 
ind are of consequence a decided improvement upon 
iny native breed; but he is far from looking on them 
)r any other breed of cattle as perfect, or incapable of 
'urther improvement. On the contrary, he sees in these 
improved breeds, and these fine imported animals, the 
3 asis of still greater improvements; he sees in them, 
what the labor of the most skillful and careful in Eng¬ 
land have taken fifty years to accomplish; and instead 
of going back to the po nt from which they started, he 
intends to make the highest vantage ground they have 
reached his starting point in the career of further pro¬ 
gress and improvement. 
In breeding from foreign improved stock, it is ne¬ 
cessary the American farmer or breeder should pay par¬ 
ticular attention to the purity of blood, and the predo¬ 
minating qualities of the animal. The principal value 
of any improvement in animals, consists in its perma¬ 
nency; indeed, this quality is one of the main things 
that marks the difference between the high bred im¬ 
ported animal and some few of our native stock. If the 
improvement is not permanent; if the valuable quali¬ 
ties have not become fixed and constitutional, there is 
no security that they will be imparted to the progeny, 
or that the high raised hopes of the breeder may not 
end in bitter disappointment. It is in determining this 
question of blood, that the pedigree becomes important; 
and a reference to the Herd Book will inform the breed- 
er whether he may depend upon stock possessing the 
qualities of their parents, or leave it to be determined 
by the event whether that stock shall possess most of 
the qualities of the Short Horn or the scrub. In regard 
to the qualities of the imported animals from which we 
expect improvement to our herds, it appears to us that 
thwe are two points that have been sometimes oyer- 
looked in making our selections. We have not paid at¬ 
tention enough to their milking properties, or their abi- 
litv and aptitude to labor. The old Short Horns were 
the best milking breed in England—a reputation which, 
as a whole, certainly does not belong to the improved 
breeds. That there are some superior mUkers among 
them, is notorious; and that milking deep might be 
made one of the peculiar characteristics of the breed, 
no well informed breeder doubts. We very much ques¬ 
tion, however, whether (here is at this time in Europe 
or in the United States, a herd of avy improved stock. 
Short Horns, Herefortls or Devons, from which tweniy- 
five cows can be selected, that would produce as much 
butter and cheese as the twenty-five native cows men¬ 
tioned at page 79 of the May Cultivator, or that from 
the twelve native cows mentioned at page 85 of the 
same number.* The reason is a plain one; other quali¬ 
ties than deep milking have been principally regarded 
by their breeders; beef, and not milk, has been the 
great object. That deep milking can easily be bretl 
into them, no one questions; and this we believe is one 
of the points that calls for immediate attention. Ano¬ 
ther point that has not been siifficienrly attended to, is 
aptitude to labor. In this country, very few instances 
can be found in which high bred animals have been put 
to the test of labor; but in England, Short Horn bul¬ 
locks have been subjected to the yoke, and, unless we 
are misinformed, were found in this respect inferior to 
the Devons or the Herefoids. Indeed, the forms of the 
animals themselves, indicative of diminished aelivily 
and power of locomotion, would lead the observer to 
expect such a result; and by some it may be considered 
doubtful whether the aptitude to labor can be engrafted 
on this stock, unless at the expense of other more im¬ 
portant and valuable qualities. 
A question, most important to the agricultural interests 
of the country, is not unfi equently asked, and it is de¬ 
sirable it should be correctly answered; that question is, 
how can the desired improvements be most certainly 
and expeditiously made? On this point, we are fortu¬ 
nately not left to theory alone; but we have ihe result 
of many experiments, which would seem to be decisive 
of the matter. In all crosses from a high bred or made 
up stock, with inferior breeds, there is a constant and 
powerful tendency to deterioration. Habit is hardly 
equal to a contest with nature; implanted qualities, un¬ 
less carefully guarded, are apt to disappear before the 
powerful tendencies of natural and constitutional ones; 
and it is to prevent this degeneracy, to retain all the old 
qualities that are valuable, and add new ones that are 
desirable, that requires all the skill and caution of the 
breeder. Man himself, studied physiologiplly, has 
furnished some of the most useful lessons which can be 
offered for the guidance of the modern breeders of ani- 
lals. 
Our opinion as to the true coorse to be followed, anct 
le one which we doubt not will be generally adopied, 
i, for the'breeder to select a full bred bull of the kind 
referred, possessing those qualities most desirable, or 
idicating that they are inherent in the breed. Much is 
epending on the proper selection of the imalc, for it is 
e that stamoe mtlelibly his chaiaetcr on Ihe pro- 
eny. Ascertain whether the animals from which he is 
escended, the particular family, we mean, are noted for 
ny particular quality, and what that may be. In the 
line breed, and of equal purity of blood, animals may 
e found in which the predominating quality differs es- 
entially. Aptitude to fatten, deep milking, excellence 
n the yoke, kind handling, &c. &c. may not be piomi- 
ent in all animals of a breed; and it is for the breeder 
0 select with reference to Ihe qualities, whether of form 
ir color, most desirable. Having secured bulls of un. 
leniable excellence, let the breeder next select from his 
lative stock the best cows he possesses,- or that can bfe 
irocured—those in which the qualities of lasy feeding,' 
leep milking and kind dispositions appear to be the most 
trongly marked and fixed, and breed from such cows 
inly, if he hopes to effect a permanent improvement in 
lis stock. We have never known an insiance in which 
luch a cross did not at once mark and change the char-^ 
icter of a stock for the better. The cattle shows and 
airs of our country prove that these half bloods are fax' 
luperior to the native stock, in every case, where ordi-j 
lary attention has been paid to selection in breeding, and 
hat in many instances they have approximated in foim 
ind value to the pure blood progenitor. In this/rs? cross^ 
ve have rarely known the farmer or breeder to be dis- 
ippointed ; it is in the next and succeeding steps in the 
irogress, from which disappointment has arisen, and 
his has been occasioned by causes perfectly easy to 
olain. How often have we heard it said, ‘ our first 
jalves were almost equal to the imported bull, but now 
they are no better than old fashioned stock.” And this 
was true ; for they were nothing but the old stock. Let 
it be remembered that breeding from crosses, without 
I'ecurrence to pure blood always degenerates; u w ere 
the first cross or half blood is bred to a full blood, a 
half blood heifer, to a pure blood bull for instance, im¬ 
provement is sure to follow. The course PUf«ed by 
many, perhaps most of our farmers is this. - ua 
^ow^; bred to a pure short horn, and the progeny is a 
fine bull calf. This calf, a half blood, is used for a bull 
with his herd of native cows, and the farmer is surpris- 
ed to find such a falling off in the qualities of his calves 
from that of their sire. Now the true course would be, 
if the progeny in the first insiance was a bull calf, to fit 
him for the voke or the shambles; if a heifer, to bleed 
her to a pure blood bull, and a good calf might be con- 
spidered certain. By this recurrence to pure blood, the 
stock will be conslantly rising; by breeding fiom cro.- 
JsLUCK wiii ^_ . Ka nc/»isrrainlv smk- 
hp dairv of 2b cows the product per cow vvas S6I lbs. of 
and cheLe - and of the dairy of 12 cows the product per 
as 533i lbs.’ In both cases the cows bad pasture and hay 
