BREEDING PROBLEMS. 
The announcement of the Editor of the American Veter- 
in ary Review, that he will open a new department in this jour¬ 
nal for report and discussion on “ Breeding Problems,” must 
be approved and welcomed by every veterinarian of this country. 
It constitutes a timely move, and one that will result in cul¬ 
tivating a branch of our profession that has been neglected. We 
need not censure anyone for this neglect. It resulted from the 
gradual development and extension of our science and practice, 
which dates not much further back than a half-century. Going 
slowly at first, as a new-born profession always does, we had 
to take hold first of the fundamental branches of medicine and 
surgery, which called for immediate application and made for a 
living. One branch of our profession has since been added to 
another, until the times are now ripe for making the “ Breeding 
Problem ” one of our problems; to set about to win “ Breeding 
Work ” as a legitimate branch of our American veterinary pro¬ 
fession; and to discuss it in our professional journals as we dis¬ 
cuss all other subjects that are part of the whole of our science. 
In the endeavor to do so, we can well afford to learn some 
lessons from our European confreres who have since long con¬ 
quered this field as a distinct part of the domain of veterinary 
science. It was not without long and strong opposition from 
those who considered themselves pastmasters of this art that the 
veterinarians across the Atlantic have firmly established them¬ 
selves in the realm. Beginning feebly, nearly one hundred years 
ago, in assisting, advising and supervising the breeding opera¬ 
tions of horses for the armies of Europe, they gradually obtained 
such conspicuous results that opposition ceased, and acknowledg¬ 
ment of the superior ability of the veterinarian in this sphere 
of work has since come freely from their governments and from 
the people directly interested. Somewhat later the veterinarians 
in civil, official positions and the rural practitioners extended 
their helping hand to the breeding industry of live stock generally, 
with nearly equally good results, so that to-day we find in 
European countries not only veterinarians with office and titles 
of “ director of government studs,” but also many others who 
function as “ inspectors or supervisors of live-stock breeding.” 
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