The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-01-10


Arabian and othe choice breeds, the ma.
tive now was a better h.orse than the Ara
biau. In the great races the latter were
allowed thirty-six pounds less weight than
the former. The care taken in respect
to food by successful breeders was noted
and the conseqent improvement by use OF
nutritious food. The young English race
horse is allowed half a peck Of grain per
day. The use of rich and dry food was
recommended for the production Of bone,
muscle and vigor. The nutritious
elements Of the soil on which animals
Craze or form the products Of which they
feed was referred to. A rich soil abound
ing in lime was the most favorable for
breeders. The influence of imagination
on the part Of tn, female was considered,
and it was suggested that pure breeds
which it was desired to perpctuate should
be kept together. Several amusing ex-
amplcs were given, in which the peculi-
a%rities of color, shape, &C.. of oxen or
mules pasturcd with cow were found to
be reproduced in the calf. The degen-
eracy Of animals in consequence of being
surrounded by unfavorable conditions was
shown. The Shetland pony was a horse
degenerated in. size by the seventies Of
the climate us affecting several genera.
tions. The English bulldog transferred
to India in a few generations looses his
native qualities. Certain sheep trans
ferred to a hot climate after several gen
Grafton lost their wool, except in the re-
gion of the lions. Animals of choice
breeds generally requires warm shelter
and plenty of nourishment. He summed
up as fellows -
|. That a perfect Development and
a sound and vigorous health constitutions
ally, and above all locally in the genera
tive organs, are conditions of fertility.
2. That in the maintenance and i'm
provement of a breed the truth that like
produces like, that the reproductive germ
will stamp upon the animal developed
from the characters of the parent organ
ism, is the backbone of all success.
3. That we can in a great degree at
will produce variations and improvements
in breeds, as by an abundant feeding, a
mild, salubrious climate, a rich, health
soil, a moderate use, education, stimula-
ton or selection of desirable qualities, a
disuse or rejection of undesirable charac-
tiers and proportions by soliciting the
weight of imagination in our favor, by
allowing the breeding animals to mix on
ly with those Of the stamp desired by
crossing less improved breeds systematic
cally by mates ola better race by cross
ing animals faulty or deficient in some
particular point with others in which this
point is developed in excess.
4. That the herding together of preg-
nant high class animals and low bred ones,
and above all, attachments formed be.
tween the two races, is to be especially
avoided, as occasionally affecting the prog
eny injnriously and that strong mental
impressions from new or unusual condi-
lions Of surrounding objects are to be
equally avoided.
5. That if valuable female is allowed
to breed to an inferior male she cannot
be relied upon to produce pure bred ami.
mails for several succeeding pregnancics
thereafter That though a strong and
retained mental impression, through an
absorption into her system of living par
ticles from the fGtus or through some in
%iuence during pregnancy on those Of the
ova, then being most actively developed,
the good or bad features of the first sire
are perpetuated in the progeny of sncceed-
ing ones.
6. That all breeds show a tendency to
"brecd back or produce offspring bearing
the marks of their less improved and COM
paratively valueless ancestors, so that in
dividuals Of this kind must be rejected
from the best breeds if we would main
tain their excellence.
I. That certain races and individuals
have their characters more fixed, and will
transmit and perpetuate them in greater
proportion than others with which they
may be crossed, so that, if their qualities
are desirable ones, they prove highly valu-
able in raising other stock to higher ex-
cellenco. If undesirable, on the other
hand, they will depreciate the value Of
any stock crossed for many generations.
That ixity Of the type, however, is above
all, a characteristic Of those races which
have been carefully selected and up to a
certain standard for many generations, so
that in our best, longest established and
most esteemed breeds We have a legacy OF
the most valuable kind, left us by the
successful breeders of the past with which
we may mould IL inferior races almost
at will.
8. That while breeding continuously
from the nearest relations tends to a
weakened constitution, the aggravation Of
any faint Of disease in the blood, and
sterility. yet these may be avoided by in.
fusing at intervals fresh blood of the
same family, but which has been bred
apart from this branch of it for several
generations. That, moreover, the highest
excellence is sometimes only attainable by
breeding very closely for a time.
8. That diseased or multilated animals
are generally to be discarded from breed.
ing that mutations resulting in disease
existing during pregnacy, and disease
with a constitutional morbid faint, are
above all to be dreaded as transmissible.
10. That there is some foundation for
the opinion that the sire tends to contri-
butte more to the locomotive and external
organs, nerve and vigor, and the dam to
the size and internal organs, so that five
cannot obtain the greatest excellence in
both, we should, at least, seek to have
unexceptionable in the parts and qualities
attribed to it.
IL. That with regard to the controlling