THE CULTIVATOR. 
213 
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 
At the sixth agricultural meeting in Albany last win¬ 
ter, the subject for discussion was the proper mode of 
improving the breed of domestic animals. Mr. How¬ 
ard, associate editor of the Cultivator, made, substan¬ 
tially, the following observations. 
Mr. H. said although he thought the remarks which 
had been made by the gentlemen who had before spo¬ 
ken, were, from their general character, highly interest¬ 
ing, yet he should have been pleased if something hatl 
been said having a more direct bearing on the subject 
under consideration. 
It seems to be admitted, by most persons, that domes¬ 
tic animals have in some cases been improved by man, 
and the object, in the outset, is to ascertain how that im¬ 
provement has been effected; because, “what man has 
done, man can do.” What, then, has been the system 
pursued by the improvers of animals? Some natural 
principle has doubtless been acted on. In the history 
which has been given of the management of Bake well, 
Fowler, Colling, and others, we are not informed that 
the constitutional qualities of their animals were changed 
or improved, by keeping them on any peculiar kinds of 
food. They r , to be sure, had their animals well fed with 
wholesome food, adapted to their age, but no particular 
mode of feeding was relied on to effect a constitutional 
improvement. Nor was it supposed that those men had 
a very thorough knowledge of the phisiological princi¬ 
ples, which had just been spoken of. In saying this, it 
was not intended to undervalue science, but simply to 
state, that with such light only as is within the reach of 
every man, important improvements have been made. 
If to the practical habits of observation which those ce¬ 
lebrated stock-breeders possessed, had been added a tho¬ 
rough knowledge of anatomy anil animal physiology, 
the results of their labors might have been still greater. 
But practical skill and discrimination, are of the first 
consequence, and with the men who possess these requi¬ 
sites, theoretical knowledge will be turned to the best 
account. 
An attempt will be made to state, briefly, what is be¬ 
lieved to have been the foundation on which Bakewell, 
and other improvers of stock, conducted, or continued to 
conduct their operations. 
The best domestic animals for any particular purpose, 
are seen to possess certain natural or constitutional cha¬ 
racteristics. 
It may be said to be a law of nature applicable to the 
animal and vegetable world, that “ like produces like.” 
This, though a truth in a general sense, is not strictly so 
in a particular sense—if it were, all animals of the same 
general family or race, would be exactly alike. For an 
illustration of this idea, suppose we take a given number 
of animals of any species, breed them together, and rear 
their progeny. We do not find an exact resemblance 
among them, nor do they exactly resemble either of the 
parents, or any of their progenitors. Some of the off¬ 
spring may not possess as many goodpoints as their proge¬ 
nitors had, and occasional ly some may be found with more. 
There is a variation, but still there is a general resem¬ 
blance. Now if we select from the offspring of our first 
named animals, some which are actually better than their 
progenitors, and breed from them, always bestowing pro¬ 
per attention, we may have some among their progeny 
also, which will exhibit the same superiority over the 
parents that was mentioned in the first instance. If we 
select the best from these again, and go on as before, we 
obtain the same results—we may still have a few supe¬ 
rior ones—and thus by attending for many generations to 
these rules in selecting, a general, fixed and permanent 
improvement is effected. 
But it should not be supposed that the superiority of 
offspring to parents, which has been spoken of, is fre¬ 
quently to be expected; on the contrary, such superiori¬ 
ty is rare, especially in those breeds which have derived 
their excellence chiefly from the art of man—in such 
cases a progeny is more likely to be inferior to its pro¬ 
genitors, than superior-—nevertheless, that superiority is 
sometimes found; and experience has proved that if such 
animals as possess it are chosen for propagation, those 
superior points, though in their first development they 
may seem to have been only an accidental deviation 
from general laws, may be perpetuated in the future pro¬ 
geny—may be transfused through a larger number of ani¬ 
mals, and other improvements added in succeeding ge¬ 
nerations. 
The principle then is this—that like begets like in a ge- 
neral sense—that there are some variations within this 
rule, which, when seized on, constitute the basis, under 
proper management, of new and improved varieties. 
That particular qualities in animals, though apparently 
accidental at first, may become fixed and hereditary, 
(coming under the general principle that like begets 
like,) by the exercise of care and skill in selection and 
breeding. 
It is by having acted on this principle, that improve¬ 
ment in breeding domestic animals has been chiefly ef¬ 
fected. 
But it is impossible to lay down rules for selecting and 
breeding, so minutely that they will infallibly lead every 
one who undertakes to follow them, to the desired point 
of improvement. To be able to select the best animals 
for particular purposes, requires a nicety of discrimina- 
tion which can only be acquired by a long course of the 
closest observation, and a habit of comparing different 
animals, united with a natural taste for the subject and a 
thorough understanding of its principles. Such is the at¬ 
tention, study and observation, that is necessary to con¬ 
stitute a successful breeder, that few men have hitherto 
been able to secure that title, and until men are much al¬ 
tered, it will continue to be so in future. It is an easy 
matter to improve an inferior stock by crossing it with a 
superior one; but when there is no longer a superior 
stock to resort to for crossing, there will be found but 
few who will be able to push improvement any further. 
Anil this will always render the number of truly fine ani¬ 
mals, comparatively small, and as a natural consequence, 
the prices they will command, will be comparatively 
high. 
It is believed that the principle here laid down, is the 
one which has been acted on in breeding, whether im¬ 
provement has been sought by crossing distinct breeds 
and rearing a new one from the issue, or by breeding 
entirely from one variety. It is this principle which con¬ 
stituted the basis of the improvements effected in the 
Long Horn cattle by Bake well and Fowler, in the Short 
Horns by Colling and his coadjutors, in the Herefords 
by Price, Tompkins and others. It has also been equal¬ 
ly the basis of improvement in sheep-breeding, from the 
Leicesters of Bakewell down to the South Downs of 
Ellman and Webb, and the Anglo Merinoes of Lord 
Western. Proper selection is the grand point, and, with 
a sufficient range for this, with due care in feeding, &c., 
in proportion to the skill and judgment of the breeder in 
discovering the excellencies and defects of animals for 
particular purposes, so will be his success in attaining the 
points of improvement at which he aims. Every thing 
depends on the faculty of the breeder to select those ani¬ 
mals for propagation which are best calculated to pro¬ 
mote his object. 
It may not be improper to make a remark here in re¬ 
lation to certain modes of breeding, in reference to which 
much has been said and written. 
Breeding from animals of near relationship, commonly 
called in and in breeding, is generally considered injudi¬ 
cious. On the other hand, crossing two distinct races, 
whose characteristics present a wide contrast, is by soma 
considered equally impolitic. 
Breeding directly in and in, or from precisely the same 
blood, is not, probably, often practiced by professional 
breeders. It is usually admitted that Bakewell practiced 
very close breeding, if, indeed, he did not breed from 
precisely the same blood, with both cattle and sheep. 
And yet his stock not only improved in symmetry and 
tendency to fatten, but in constitution also.* If is true 
*The principle which he [Bakewell] invariably adopted was, to 
select the best beast that would weigh most in the valuable joints; so 
that while he gained in point of shape, he also acquired a more hard$ 
breed , and especially by attending to the kindliness of their skins, hrt 
became possessed of a race, which was more easily fed and fattened 
than any other.”-- f /Jomplete Grazier, p. 34.] 
