Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-02-10
NAE PRINCIPLES on RREEDING.
Extracts from a Lecture before the
Massachusetts Agricultural College,
by ChaS. l.. Flint.

by ChaS. l.. fiiht.
"If an animal has the power to
transmit its own qualities, it is be-
cause II uossesses them of itself-that
is. If is inherent in the animal If l
breed with two animals that are dis
similar. the one having the strongest
inherent transmitting power, or the
strongest fixity Of type, will give char
acter 10 the offspring. \ ram and a
eve alike will produce a lamb posses
sing the qualities of both parents, but
they will he intensified, and that lamb
viii possess more power to transmit his
qualities than did his parents. But if
the Parents possess opposite qualities,
the case is very different. You are
familiar with the rules of mathemat-
les: let US apply them here to make
this noint plain. Take two animals
similar in tvpe, but one more strong
ly marked than the other; let 100 rep
resent the quality of one, and 10 the
other; put these animals together;
and tile offspring will be represented
by 100 plus 80, or 10. But let the pa
rents he dissimilar, and the qualities
Of the one you most desire be repre-
sented 10y 100 minus IS, or %. This
may not he strictly and mathemati
cally true i'm practice, but il is a fair
illustration of the result Of such breed
ing
This then, may be laid down as
one of the first principles of breeding,
that long-bred animals have the most
power to transmit their qualities, and
IL animals possessing this power in
different degrees are put together, the
one in which this power prcdOminates
will give the character to the progeny.
Mate a Galloway bull, for instance,
with native COW and the calf will,
a a general thing be hOrnless. Put
ram without horns with ewes with
horns, and most of the lambs Will be
without hOrns-that is, they take ;he
characteristics of the father, rather
than the dam; and this rule holds
good generally in breeding, though,
like all other rules, it has, of course,
its exceptions. Hence, if this posi-
ton be correct, the first principle
which the good sense of the farmer
would dictate, would be to select a
bull from n breed most noted for the
qualities he wishes to obtain in the
greatest perfection, and especially if
the cow is deficient in those qualities.
4 bull, for instance, of nne bone, and
other good points in perfection, will
make up for the deficiency of some of
these points in the cow. Breed only
from the best animals, not the best
looking merely, but those possessing
the best and strongest hereditary
qualities. [ have heard practical
men say they did not care a fig for
81 II =, ,1
one that looked right TO the eye.
Don't be deceived by any such notion.
some animals may be excellent OF
themselves, but destitute of the pow
er TO give their qualities to their de-
The Oakes cow, so eele-
brateu some years ago, is an instance
IN point. She was one of the most
cows for milk and butter
of her day. Where she obtained her
qualities was never known, and she
never had Il calf that possessed them.
Blood is Of the greatest importance,
and the longer the ancestry the bet
ter. for the more perfect the type, and
the stronger the transmitting power.
1t is essential to have . good male,
for he transmits his qualities to more
than the female, has usually
more vigor and, and more power to
There are three general points to
be sought in breeding: First, milk (;
second, beef; third, labor. Milking
qualities are not confined TO any race
or breed, but are Il characteristic of
the species, AZ nIirTnnaiiu- Dat high
qualities have become fixed
i'm certain stock by their long breeding
for that purpose. The wild COW has
stronger powers OF production than
when dOmesticated, and the pow
er 10 produce milk is hereditary,
but the power to give milk in large !
and for long time is the |
result OF breeding. The Texas cow I
gives milk bat a heifer from one of
those cows by pure-bred bull would |
be destroyed when she produced |
young by the sudden change in her
milking organization her system |
could not endure the strain, her I'D |
der would be incurably diseased, and |
she would die. As good dairy quail |
ties have been bred in the COW, great ]
care should be taken that they do not |
for they have a constant |
tendancy to return to their wild state. |
ing qualities of n breed, rs this ten |
dancy separates the particles from the |
blood which should be conveyed to I
the mammillary glands, and deposits /
them in the adipOse tissues of the |
body, so that high milking and fat |
tcning qualities are rarely found in
the same animal"
For dairy purposes, it is our object /
to breed so as to stimulate the mann /
m llary gland TO activity, and if we ne
glect to DO this for any length of time, /
the animals become such poor milkers |
rs to be Improbable for dairy stock. 4
So to breed for fat is against milk; I
milk and meat do not generally go to- /
gether; yet the best milkers, when /
the flow OF milk ceases, are the best |
to fattcn. For breeding for the dairy, /
choose cows that give large quantities 4
Of milk, for large milkers bring good 4
calves. Thus one point is gained. /
native cows, use thorough
bred bulls of milking stock, and the
calves will be better than their dams.
But with a well bred COW and 4 low
bred bull, YOU are going i'll the wrong
direction. and your stock will deterio-
ate. To breed for beef, select large,
well formed cows and thoroughbred
bulls. Breeding in and in is practic-
ed by many, but, in my opinion, it is
safe only in narrow limits and in
skillful hands. Cross breeding of
pure animals of different breeds may
be practiced for the purpose of obtain
ing milk, beef, or other desired quail
tiles in the offspring, but should new
er be practiced to obtain animals rs
breeders.
$50 far rs my observation goes, it is
better TO heifeTs come in at two than
three years old, better in summer or
winter. provided she has been well
fed and cared for. There is this Off
set, however, liability to check her
size"
EFFECT OF SORROw.-Life has long
years; many pleasures it has to give