1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
74i 
CLOSE INBREEDING. 
On page 710 E. H. Knapp & Son described 
(heir experiment of breeding a Holstein bull 
back to its mother. There is some argument 
among breeders as to the wisdom of such 
close in breeding. 
Regarding inbreeding stock we must 
confess ignorance on this point at the 
present time, as far as our experience 
r oes, having now one case in our farm 
of which we are carefully watching the 
development. Having a fine type of heifer 
from Prince Ito we decided to develop 
more of the same blood, and bred her to 
a son of Prince Ito (Prince Barbara) ; 
from this mating we have a heifer calf 
that bids fair to fulfill all our desires so 
far. But now we are at a loss to know 
what to do. We have a fine young son of 
Prince Barbara we would like to mate 
with this one, but we feel doubtful if wise 
to do so, as we do not advocate or believe 
in inbreeding, and especially more than 
one cross, and that not of mother to son 
under any conditions. We are afraid so 
close breeding would weaken and perhaps 
ruin a valuable family of cattle. If we 
wanted to experiment on this line we should 
select something just for the purpose of 
the experiment, scrub stock or something 
we did not care much for. It is most likely 
some of the older breeders have experi¬ 
mented on this line. We asked Mr. Pierce, 
of Illinois, who has been breeding cattle 
for 30 years, what he thought of our cross, 
and he said he could neither advise or 
recommend it. myer & son. 
Not for Red Polls. 
By inbreeding we mean breeding an 
animal to another when there is blood re¬ 
lation. In the first place persons nearly 
related by blood lines are forbidden to 
marry in the Bible. This comes from 
Divine wisdom. I have seen the evil ef¬ 
fects of this practice, producing vice, ignor¬ 
ance and sensuality. If this produces 
bestiality in mankind T think it must pro¬ 
duce something even lower in animals. I 
have been breeding for market both 
Guernsey and Red Polled cattle for 20 
years, and always purchase a new. male 
once in two years. I think, however, that 
if I had the best Guernsey cow procurable 
and she should have a bull calf better than 
any other it might do to breed them once, 
hut be sure to breed out the next time. 
Breeding like to like intensifies the promi¬ 
nent qualities. In the Channel Islands, I 
understand that breeders inbreed occa¬ 
sionally. I once had a very good horse 
which was bred from a mare and her colt, 
hut I would not recommend such practice. 
D. L. STEVENS. 
The Subject Discussed. 
There seems to be a great fear in the 
minds of many as to the danger of in- 
breeding. They forget that left to itself 
that is nature’s way of reproducing. 
Among animals in such a state only the 
strong remain, and such mating with their 
kind tends to produce progeny of equal 
vigor, so that there is no deterioration but 
rather an intensification of peculiar char¬ 
acteristics, generation after generation. 
All our different kinds of purebred live 
stock have been the result of inbreeding, 
and the different families of such, of pro¬ 
nounced excellence, have been made what 
they are by judicious mating of animals 
more or less closely related. In this con¬ 
nection it may be worth while to “search 
the Scriptures’’ and study the ancestry of 
Moses, one of the most remarkable men that 
ever lived in any age or country; as re¬ 
corded in Exodus, 2:1 and 6 :20, inbreeding 
of the closest kind. We foreet that while 
coupling parents closely allied by blood 
ties will intensify weaknesses and unde¬ 
sirable qualities, it will equally well inten¬ 
sify strong and desirable ones; hence 
when directed by the hand of man must 
be done with care and discretion. Would 
I had space to cite examples of some of 
our noted horses, Short-horn and Jersey 
cattle, as well as sheep. So much as a 
preface and in answer to the first question. 
When I have animals with desirable 
qualities which I desire to perpetuate, un¬ 
accompanied by equally prominent de¬ 
fects, I believe it a wise thing to mate 
such even though closely related. For in¬ 
stance, in breeding grades (always using 
a purebred sire) where I aim to obtain the 
characteristics and form of the purebreds, 
I always breed the daughters back to their 
sire, provided the latter are such as I care 
to perpetuate. This, as instanced in the 
question, I have not only 75 per cent of 
the pure blood, but also the same amount 
of that particular strain on which I am 
working. Therefore, I fix the pure blood 
characteristics more surely and rapidly 
than where I have a sire of the same breed 
but not of the same strain. I have fol¬ 
lowed this with cattle and sheep, and it 
would be very hard for a stranger, in 
most cases, to distinguish in the third 
generation between grades and purebreds. 
How far would I carry this? In the next 
generation I believe it wiser to secure a 
sire of the same type, with a preponder¬ 
ance of the particular strain of blood I 
am using, than to breed to the grand-sire. 
There may be defects in the ancestry of 
which I know nothing, which undue or 
too close mating will bring out. Breed¬ 
ing to the son, as indicated under the 
above restrictions, is to be commended. In 
such cases one must always stand ready 
to discard any progeny that show defects 
or fail to come up to the standard. 
EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE. 
A Shorthorn Breeder Talks. 
There are certain conditions under 
which I think a man is justified in inbreed¬ 
ing. But both sire and dam should be 
free from any pronounced defects, and 
should have vigorous constitutions. Some 
of the very best cattle I have ever raised 
were sired by a bull whose dam was a 
half sister to their dams. In this case 
the sire and dams were both of a similar 
type and vigorous constitution. I have 
also bred a few to their own sire with | 
the very best results, the sire being an 
extra vigorous animal, extra good in cer¬ 
tain points which I desired. I do not be¬ 
lieve that inbreeding should be practiced 
in a haphazard way, but by the use of 
much care and good judgment. 
Illinois. JAMES CARMICHAEL. 
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Here is a letter whose reading 
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•RACTICAL. 
iOME 
eterinarian 
Losing CALVES is Losing MONEY, of Course 
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“Abortion 
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Dr. David 
'Roberts, 
Cattle Specialist 
Dr. Roberta 
| Veterinary Co. 
Waukesha,Wis. 
I Dear Sirs: 
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