290 
BREEDING OE FARM STOCK. 
of practice is very decided, as showing that our well-bred 
stock will produce more meat from a given quantity of food 
than those of inferior quality. I have shown in other commu¬ 
nications* in what manner the system of management 
adopted and the peculiar conformation of the body which is 
possessed by all well-bred stock—whether cattle, sheep, or 
pigs—promote the economical production of meat. It is 
enough for our present purpose to record the fact that the 
squareness of frame, the small proportion of offal, the docile 
disposition, and the smallness of the lungs possessed by all 
animals of this description are well calculated to favour the 
production of the largest quantity of meat of the best quality 
from any given quantity of food with the least loss in its con¬ 
version. These, therefore, are most important points of 
character to be imparted to any animal which is simply to be 
used as a means for producing a certain amount of animal 
food. For these reasons, the dam should be well-formed, 
healthy, and a good milker, and the young animal should 
receive from its parents that conformation of body and con¬ 
stitution which render our high-bred stock such economical 
producers of meat. These are, however, in some degree 
antagonistic requirements ; for, as we have before seen, those 
animals which possess a strong tendency for the formation 
of fat are not generally remarkable for being good milkers; 
yet such a combination is desirable if it can be attained, and 
the two objects are not irreconcilable. Practically, there will 
be no difficulty in selecting a well-formed healthy female, 
capable of nourishing her progeny in a satisfactory manner, 
and we must endeavour to communicate to the offspring 
those necessary qualifications which are deficient in the female 
by means of the sire. To accomplish this result, a male should 
be selected which has been very'carefully bred, and whose 
ancestry during several preceding generations has possessed 
those qualifications which distinguish well-bred stock as eco¬ 
nomical producers of meat. Such a male, in consequence of 
such parentage, will have concentrated within him powers of 
transmitting this character to his stock proportioned to the 
length and purity of his pedigree. If this male were put to 
a female possessing hereditary powers of less powerful cha¬ 
racter, it is manifest that the male will have the greatest 
influence upon the offspring and impart to it a similar dis¬ 
position for rapid feeding to that which it possessed. In this 
manner we can transmit from the male the predisposition to 
* ‘ Journal of Highland Agricultural Society,’ No. LXIX, p. 321. ‘ Journal 
of Bath and West of England Agricultural Society,’ vol. vii, p. 57. 
