j.112 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Live Stock and Dairy 
SOME BREEDING MYTHS EXPLODED. 
F memory serves us aright we have 
previously stated in these columns that 
there are no such diseases as “hollow: 
horn” or “wolf-in-the-tail” of cattle, and 
that the signs of the zodiac have no in¬ 
fluence, good or bad, upon man and his 
mundane affairs. There are other myths, 
believed in by many farmers, which need 
“exploding” here. 
Two of them are well brought to our 
attention by inquiries received by the 
writer. A New York State horseman 
writes: “Will you kindly inform me if 
any injury is likely to result from the 
use of an overhead check when driving a 
brood mare that is in foal? Will the foal 
be marked?” The other anxious inquirer 
writes that his English Shire stallion has 
a white face, which is highly objection¬ 
able to his patrons, and wants to know 
The man who keeps mares from seeing 
the white face of his Shire stallion be¬ 
lieves in a very ancient myth. It was 
first suggested in the Biblical account of 
Jacob with his peeled rods and ring- 
straked, speckled and spotted sheep and 
goats (Gen. xxx:32-43). It is said to 
have been believed in by that old-time 
successful breeder of Aberdeen-Angus cat¬ 
tle, William McCombie of Tillyfour, 
Scotland, and that he therefore had all 
of his fences and farm buildings painted 
coal black so that his “bonnie black dod- 
dies” (mulleys) might not become off col¬ 
ored, or rather, might be influenced to re¬ 
main black in color. The Shire stallion 
marks his progeny with white faces be¬ 
cause that marking is a hereditary fea¬ 
ture and characteristic of the breed, just 
as the exuberantly “feathered” (haired) 
legs of this noted draft breed arc char¬ 
acteristic. One could no more prevent 
Shire foals from coming with white faces 
by enveloping the stallion’s or mare’s 
head in a gunny sack, or painting it red 
A GOOD SPECIMEN OF SHROPSHIRE. 
if we can tell him how to dye the white 
face black to prevent the colts from being 
marked with white faces. lie adds that 
meanwhile he is careful to blindfold the 
mares mated with this horse so that they 
will not see his white face. 
The writer of the first inquiry evident¬ 
ly believes that anything accidentally in¬ 
juring or unnaturally affecting a mare in 
foal may have an injurious effect upon 
the offspring. The second man believes 
that foals unborn may be marked by 
things seen by the dam. Both of these 
beliefs are erroneous. 
The tight over-check distorts the neck 
it tortures. Such a check strap is cruel, 
unnecessary and certainly detrimental to 
the mare; but the distorted “ewe neck,” 
caused by the check, will not be repro¬ 
duced in her foal. The foal may be in¬ 
jured to a certain degree, as regards nu¬ 
trition and development, if constant wear¬ 
ing of the check impairs the appetite and 
thrift of the mare, so that she frets, 
weakens and loses spirit and flesh. The 
development and health of the fetus (un¬ 
born young), apart from the influences 
of heredity, are largely dependent upon 
the nourishment and health of the dam. 
Lack of feed, over-feeding, damaged feed, 
unsuitable feed, indigestion, constipation, 
or the reverse, and sickness or disease 
causing fever or undermining the 
strength, irritating the nerves and lead¬ 
ing to emaciation may lead to the death 
and expulsion of the fetus (abortion), or 
malnutrition indicated by smallness and 
weakness or rickets of the offspring at 
birth. Distortion of the neck is an acci¬ 
dental condition; not hereditary. Acci¬ 
dental or induced distortions or mutila¬ 
tions are not hereditary, and are not 
transmitted to the offspring. For exam¬ 
ple, dishorning of cattle and docking of 
dogs do not induce hornless calves or cur¬ 
tailed dogs. This is equally true of 
docked Hackney horses and domesticated 
sheep. In the same way a sire is not 
hereditarily injured for breeding purposes 
by a fracture which causes distortion of 
a limb, or by an accident which causes 
lameness and wasting of the tissues of a 
foot, joint or muscle. These are ac¬ 
quired blemishes, and are not transmis¬ 
sible. 
or blue, than he could prevent “feath¬ 
ered” legs by lopping off a limb or clip¬ 
ping the legs of a Shire mare or stal¬ 
lion. Offspring is not marked by what 
the sire or dam sees. There is no dan¬ 
ger in that respect to a Jersey, herd from 
pasturing “over the fence” from a Hol¬ 
stein herd. 
At one time it was commonly believed 
that mating with a certain sire leaves a 
temporary or indelible impression upon 
the mind of the female or “taints” her 
womb so that subsequent offspring from 
a different sire will “favor” or be “mark¬ 
ed for” the previous mate. We find that 
this myth still has many believers, so that 
a word on the subject will not be out of 
place in this article. The theory re¬ 
ferred to is technically termed “telegony” 
and it has been perfectly disproved by 
prolonged, exhaustive and conclusive ex¬ 
periments made by Prof. J. Cossar Ewart 
of Scotland. He mated pony mares with 
zebra sires and obtained striped hybrid 
foals. The same mares were next mated 
with pony sires of their own breed and 
color. Every possible combination of 
breeding of this sort was tried, but not 
in a single instance did any foal from a 
pony sire and pony dam show the slight¬ 
est trace, at birth or maturity, of the 
zebra sire previously used. This proves 
conclusively that when a mare has a mule 
foal to a jack and is subsequently bred to 
a horse the offspring from the latter mat¬ 
ing is not in any way influenced or mark¬ 
ed by the previous jack sire. No impres¬ 
sion or “taint” remains with the female. 
The characters and markings of her off¬ 
spring, by sires of her own breed, are 
wholly determined by heredity. This is 
true of all the animals from which we 
breed, therefore the man whose purebred 
Guernsey cow has had a calf to the ser¬ 
vice of a roaming scrub bull is injured 
only to the extent of the difference in 
market value of the scrub calf and the 
calf that would have resulted from mat¬ 
ing with a purebred Guernsey bull. He 
cannot obtain “damages” for mythical 
injury to the future reproducing quali¬ 
ties of the purebred cow. Thousands of 
instances have been advanced by breed¬ 
ers in seeming disproof of these asser- 
(Concluded on page 1113.) 
SANITATION 
would have saved a great many 
of the 7,420,912 hogs valued 
at $59,455,700.00 lost in 
United States during 1913 from 
HOG CHOLERA 
You can make your hog 
pens sanitary if you use 
KRESO DIP No. 1 
The Standardized, Reliable 
Dip and Disinfectant 
We will send yon free a booklet on the 
treatment of mange, eczema or pitch 
mange, arthritis, sore mouth, etc. 
We will send you free a booklet on 
how to build a hog wallow, which will 
keep hogs clean and healthy. 
We will send you free a booklet on 
how to keep your hogs free from lice and 
parasites and disease. 
Write for them—they are free. 
KRESO DIP No. 1 has been used at 
the large state fairs in the United States 
for the last ten years to prevent the 
spread of contagious disease. It has done 
it, and KRESO DIP No. 1 will do the 
same for you on the farm. 
KRESO DIP No. 1 is Easy to Use-Reli¬ 
able—For Sale by All Druggists— 
Effective—Not Expensive. 
PARKE, DAVIS & CO. 
Dep’t Animal Industry. DETROIT, MICH. 
EQUIPMENT 
Real Labor Savers 
Put an end to that unnecessary labor 
by installing West Bend Feed and Lit¬ 
ter Carriers— the strongest, easiest to 
put up and the most practical carriers that you 
can buy. Positive safety guard prevents jump¬ 
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loading; bail quickly adjustable for high or low 
i ceiling—these are only a few of the important 
features embodied in 
WEST BEND CARRIERS 
Write today^ for full descriptive catalog and 
prices. An investigation will convince you that 
West Bend carriers are the equipment for you. 
A one cent post card will bring full information. 
WEST BEND BARN EQUIPMENT CO. 
210 So. Water St. West Bend, Wii. 
WEST 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHION 
30 Dats’ Trial—Stationary Wiien Oped 
NOISELESS SIMPLE SANITARY DURABLE 
The Wasson Stanchion Co., ' 
Box 60, Cuba. N. Y. 
AMERICAN 
Upward CREAM 
SEPARATOR 
FREE TRIAL FULLY GUARANTEED. 
Easy running. Easily cleaned. 
Whether dairy is large or small, 
obtain our handsome free catalog Address 
AMERICAN SEPARATOR CO. bainbKS.y. 
ELECTRIC 
SSMKS 
/ 
Save draft —savo repairs. 
Don’t rut roads or Helds. Send today for free 
Illustrated catalog of wheels and wagons. 
Electric Wheel Co., * 8 Elm St., Quincy. III. 
HAVANA- 
steel WHEELS 
AND 
FARM TRUCKS 
with either steel or wood 
wheels. We have a free 
Catalog that tells you how to 
measure your skein or steel 
axle. Write for it at once. 
Havana Metal Wheel Co. 
Box 17,Havana. ILL. 
September 12, 
ITHE BEST LINIMENT 
OR PAIN KILLER FOR THE HUMAN BODY 
m Gombault’s 
Gaustic Balsam 
IT HAS NO EQUAL 
- A - 
—It is penetrat- 
■ Ol ing,soothing and 
healing, and for all Old 
Sores, Bruises.or 
IIIw Wound 9 , Felons 
Exterior Cancers, Boils 
IIhim 4 *m Corns and 
tlUnlan Bun ions 
CAUSTIC BALSAM has 
Djtflif no equal as 
UUUy a Liniment 
We would say to all 
who buy it that it does 
not contain a particle 
of poisonous substance 
and therefore no harm 
can result from its ex¬ 
ternal use. Persistent, 
thorough use will cure 
many old or chronic 
ailments and it can be 
used on any case thaf 
requires an outward 
application with 
perfect safety. 
Perfectly Safe 
and 
Reliable Remedy 
for 
Sore Throat 
Chest Cold 
Backache 
Neuralgia 
Sprains 
Strains 
Lumbago 
Diphtheria 
Sore Lungs 
Rheumatism 
and 
all Stiff Joints 
REMOVES THE SORENESS--STRENGTHENS MUSCLES 
Cornhill, Tox.—“One bottle Caustic Balsam did 
my rheumatism more good than $120.00 paid in 
doctor's bills." OTTO A. BEYER. 
Prioo $ 1.50 per bottle. Sold by druggists, or sent I 
by us express prepaid. Write for Booklet R. 
The LAWRENGE-WILLIAMS COMPANY. Cleveland, 0. 
MINERAL 
'".“’HEAVE 
years REMEDY 
NEGLECT 
Will Ruin I 
Your Horse* 
Send to-day for' 
only 
PERMANENT 
CURE. 
6*le—Certain. 
*$3 Package* 
will cure any case Or 
money refunded 
$1 Package 
cures ordinary cases. 
Postpaid on receipt of price. 
1 Agents Wanted 
Write for descriptive booklet 
llneral Hea»e Remedy Co.. 461 Fourth Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Reduces Strained, Puffy Ankles, 
Lymphangitis, Poll Evil, Fistula, 
Boils, Swellings; Stops Lameness 
and allays pain. Heals Sores, Cuts, 
Bruises, Boot Chafes. It is an 
ANTISEPTIC AND GERMICIDE 
[XON-POISONOUS] 
Does not blister or remove the 
hair and horse can be worked. Pleasant to use. 
$2.00 a bottle, delivered. Describe your case 
for special instructions and Book 5 K free, 
ABSORBINE, JR.. antiseptic liniment for mankind re< 
duces Strains. Painful, Knotted, Swollen Veins, Milk Leg, 
Gout. Concentrated—only a few drops required at an appli‘ 
cation. Price $1 per bottle at dealers or delivered. 
W. F. YOUNG, P, U. F., bd Temple bt., Springfield, Masai 
I 8pa vin or 
1 other lame- 
n o s 8. 3 5 
| years of re- 
- markable 
results <M a bottle, 6 for $5. At 
all drug stores. Ask for Free 
Book, ‘•Treatise on the Horse.” 
i.. it..1. K»mlnlI ro.-EiMsburc, F»tl»,Vt. 
The old reliable remedy for 
curl), splint, bony growths, 
Tin g bo n e, ^ -‘ 
Your Neighbor 
Needs The 
Rural New- 
Y orker 
Let us send you terms 
for securing his sub¬ 
scription. Postal will 
do— 
JL 
Department “M” 
n - 
The Rural New-Yorker 
333 West 30th Slreet 
New York City 
