Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1856-09-12
BREEDING OF srocK.

TFrom The Rural Cyclopedia. or a
General Dictionary Of agriculture. and Of
tie Arts, Sciences. Instruments. and practice,
necessary to the Farmer. St0ckfarmsr, GAR
dener," de-, Edim6urg. 1854.
"a question of great niceness and diff
ficulty, and one which has been the topic
of much discussion and antagonism among
the agricultural writer's, is, whether the
breed of live stock be susceptible Of the
greatest Improvement, from the qualities
CONSPICUOUS in the male, or those conspic-
uous in the female parent 2" The High
land Society proposed this question about
thirty years ago. as a subject of prize es-
says and afterwards adjudged four es-
SAYS upon it to be worthy of premiums.
and published them in their transactions.
Mr.. Boswell Of Balmuto, the author OF
one of the essays, asserts that the male is
the most influential, supports his opinion
by an appeal to facts, and concludes
''that the male is the parent from motives
Of sense and sound polity, which We can
alone look 10 for the Improvement
of our breed of live stock" The Rev.
Henry Berry. the Author of another
of the essays, teaches that improving
power in breeds is not attribMable
to sex. but to high blood or to- an-
imals. whether male or fe male, which
have been long and success fully selected
with view 70 particular quali6ca"
tions, yet concludes, "that with our
scanty stock of information upon this
difficult question. one only rational course
can be adopted by breeders. viz: that of
resorting to the best male, simple and
eficacious mode Of improving such stock
as require improvement, and the only
proceeding by which stock already good
can be preserved in excellence. Mr..
Christian OF Mill Of Forest, another one
of the essayists. asserts that the offspring
bears the closest resemblance to parent,
whether male or female, which exerts the
greatest influence in the formation of the
lcetus, and concludes that no individual
animals, either male or female, can be
trusted to for Improvement. and that the
best breed and most perfect animal Of
both sexes, ought in every instance to
be selected. Mr.. Dallas of Edinburg,
asserts that the male is the more power
full for external qualities, and the female
for the improvement Of Righteousness,
hardness and temper, and freedom from
tendency OF any description to internal
disease.
"The opinions of Mr.. Boswell and Mr..
Berry. if mutually combined, or if made
to modify each other, appear to contain
the whole or very nearly the whole Of the
truth upon this question ; and the opinion
of Mr.. Dallas and Mr.. Christian are alto
gether, or very nearly altogether, tanci.
fu,-the one in theory, and the other in
fact. The power of blood, or of regular
systematic, untarnished breeding through
a series of generations, appear to be SO
great as to wholly supersede mere sexual
or constitutional power.-and though pc
culiarly mighty in the male, is not lit
tie distinguished in the female. A cow
possessing excellency by pure descent
from high ancestry, holds them as essen
tial elements of her constitution, and will
transmit them in all their breadth and
beauty to her progeny while bull,
possessing by furnished descent from a
near ancestry, or merel y by cross Of
breeds on the part Of his immediate pa
rents, holds them as only secondary
properties Of his constitution, and may
propagate them in a very marred condi>
ton. The mare of Arabia is the grand
object Of the Bedouin's attention, and is
constantly and carefully maintained in a
condition of eminent excellence; and
she, in consequence, bears all sway in
propagation, and often transmits her Pc
cuIiaT properties in defiance Of antagonis-
tic ones in her mate. Still the male, by
nearly unanimous verdict Of both practi-
~,
p0ribus. far more influence than the fe.
male; SO that when simply equal TO her
descent. and in some minor modifying
circumstances, he at once maintains his
excellencies BY a mightier energy, devel-
ops them with superior force, and pro-
pagates them with both fuller breadth
and higher certainty. He also possesses
a higher money value than female, and
becomes connected with vastly larger
number of offspring and for both these
reasons, as well as for the sake of his
greater constitutional influence, demands
a prime attention Of every breeder"
"a farmer who wishes to breed either
cattle or sheep, ought to make first de-
iberate decision as to the precise excel
lencies. which he wishes his flock to pos
sess, and next a very careful selection of
a male who exhibits these excellencies in
the fullest development, and in freedom
from accompanying defects. If he breed
at one time with the view of obtaining
animals with one set Of properties, and at
another time within the view of obtaining
animals with different set of properties,
he is almost certain to miss the attain>
ment of both these properties, or, at best.
to obtain them in a very deteriorated
condition. But if he decide on precise
properties. and use only males which
purely and prominently possess them,
and steadily prosecute the establishment
of them in all his stock, he is morally