BREEDING OF FARM STOCK. 
289 
supplies of milk, and they are equally disposed for laying on 
fat when no longer intended for breeding. This combination 
is equally observable in sows of a like description, which 
produce large, healthy, thriving farrows, and make a good 
return for the food given them. 
Formation of Meat. 
When the object to be attained is the production of meat, 
many points require consideration. Much will depend upon 
the management and attention of the feeder, and in this 
respect it has been fully proved that it is essential for the 
economical production of meat that the animal should be 
kept in a thriving condition from its birth. Our attention, 
however, is here specially due to those consequences which 
result from the natural character of the animal. One of 
these is the capability of the dam to nourish her offspring, 
or, in other words, her power of producing a free supply of 
good milk, to which we have before adverted. Other points 
of character being equal, this capacity for the formation of 
milk will very powerfully influence the value of the dam for 
the purpose of rearing an animal especially intended as an 
economical producer of meat. Moreover, besides this supply 
of good milk after birth, we must not overlook the support 
given by the dam to the “ foetus in utero ”—one that has 
many analogies and affinities to the yield of milk afforded to 
the young animal after its birth. A good milker will produce 
her offspring fatter, finer, and in better condition than a bad 
milker; whilst a puny calf tells us of a dam which has an 
overpowering disposition for the formation of fat. The im¬ 
portance of balancing these competitive tendencies so as to 
secure an adequate supply of milk is of primary importance 
for the economical breeding of animals intended to be pro¬ 
ducers of meat; whilst as this superior milking character is 
not generally possessed by high-bred stock, they would, by 
this rule, be set aside (in the majority of instances) as not 
being the best adapted for this object, and practice confirms 
this view. This capability of the dam to nourish and sup¬ 
port the offspring should, of course, be accompanied by a 
well-formed and roomy body, capable of affording the young 
suitable accommodation for their development and growth. 
But the chief point we have here to regard is that the 
progeny should have, by nature and character, a special 
capacity for the economical production of meat, or, in fact, 
be good machines for changing vegetable productions of 
various kinds into animal matter. Here again the evidence 
xxxv. 19 
