BREEDING OF FARM STOCK. 
291 
form meat economically, whilst in the female we have secured 
the means for bringing this character to the fullest and most 
vigorous development. The more fully these characters are 
possessed by the parents respectively, the more perfect will 
be the result. It is desirable that the female should not only 
be competent to produce and freely nourish her offspring, 
but also that she should not possess strong hereditary powers 
to oppose and counteract the influence of the male. The 
male should have the guarantee of a well-guarded pedigree 
for that unstained unity of character which by its concen¬ 
trated energy is so influential upon the offspring. - 
Some may, however, anticipate that a similar result would 
be attained by breeding from a very well-bred female by 
means of an inferior male. This, however, would not be the 
case, and a moment’s consideration will show the cause of 
this variation. In the former case we have a female capable 
of fully developing and nourishing her young, more certain 
as a breeder, more hardy in constitution, and consequently 
more free from the seeds of disease than in the latter. On 
economical grounds also the contrast is great, for by the one 
plan you require but one valuable and expensive male animal, 
whilst under the other system each of the females has to 
possess this pedigree value. We have, therefore, every in¬ 
ducement to breed from females well adapted to produce the 
finest offspring, and to use male animals capable of imparting 
those qualities which all will admit are desirable for the pro¬ 
duction of meat. This is no new principle, for it was advo¬ 
cated more than twenty years ago by the late Lord Spencer, 
who in the first volume of the f Royal Agricultural Society’s 
Journal’ has recorded his conviction that the worse bred the 
cow may be the more fully will the calf resemble the bull. 
An instance illustrating this principle came under my notice 
while 1 was inspecting one of the late Duke of Bedford’s 
well-managed farms. I w as very much struck w ith the supe¬ 
rior quality of about 100 or 120 store pigs, as much alike as 
possible, and all admirable in form and condition. I expressed 
a wish to purchase some for breeding, but I was told, in a 
reply, characterised alike by candour and sound judgment, 
(i valuable as they are for feeding, they are worthless for 
breeding.” Great as w r as my first surprise, no explanation 
w T as needed when I saw the parents. The boar was exceed¬ 
ingly well made, and very fine in quality, with a most careful 
pedigree, whilst the sow ? s were large, coarse, and ugly, but 
excellent breeders and good milkers, thus producing large 
farrows and pushing them rapidly on towards maturity. 
An interesting communication appears in the Journal of 
