, 1876-03-04
Breeding too Young.


The first object of all good breeders of do
mestic animals is mprovement-thaE the of
spring may be an advance ON the parent in
some one or all Of those qualities that so TO
recommend the animal, to make it subserTe
more fully the purposes for which it is used.
This We say is. or should be. the first object of
all good breeders. Wefear, however, in prac-
tice many breeders, who claim first rank as
such, sacrifice this object too much to pscuni-
airy gain They wish 70 make breeding pay
not 20 much in the future as in the present.
They reason often enormously that two ami
mails are worth more than one, and hence
they put their females to breeding while too
young. We know Of breeders of shorthorn
cattle who allow thsir fine heiters 70 become
mothers at IS months old and younger. and
of breeders of Berkshire swine that allow their
pigs to produce their first litters when six
months old or younger. Now these practices
may be in the line of money making for the
present, bu. we DO not believe they are calcu-
lated TO improve the stock of oatle or hogs.
Iu the first place We believe the practice to be
injurious TO the animals themselves. Ger
tainly it checks their growth and early, and,
We think, weakens the natural constitution.
It has SIMILAR effect on the mother that pOOr
keeping does, or even a worse effect. 4 por-
tion of the food consumed must necessarily
go TO the nourishment OF the young both be-
fore and after birth, while all young growing
animals need all the nourishment they can
get from all they eat 10 build up and perfect
their own constitutions and bodies. Second
", we contend that no animal that has not
yet attained its natural size and full strength,
can in,part 80 strong a constitution OF body
TO its offspring Between the struggle to
sustain nature in both mother and offspring
upon the food that the former by nature re-
quires, both suffer, and deterioratio- rather
than improvement Is the certain result. Nor
Is this deterioration confined to the first off
third, and in fact affects all the offspring of
the parent whose natural strength has been
injured by overtaxing. Nor does the injury
stop with the first generation, but runs DOWN
with the first to the third and fourth, and so
on without end. The constitutions of ami
mails thus injured by too early breeding be-
come less strong to resist disease, and thus in
directly epidemies and other diseases are
encouraged and fostered.
Various theories have been advanced OF
late years for the prevalence Of hOg-rhOlera
! in the Mississippi Valley States, but the most
, reasonable one we have yet noticed Is put to--
ward b a writer In the FTaTie EGyD,sr- We
quote from the article referred to:
Hogs now lack bone 10 a remarkable degree.
They are a,so lacking IN hardness Of eunsti-
tuition, VII ch is apt 10 make them victims TO
numerous obscure diseases about which little
IL known, but which are now clas4ed under
one common head-that of hog cholera.
Que prime cause of these diseases and deli
cacy OF constitution Is the extreme early age
at which Digs are allowed 10 couple and
OIttu- II u4litcitn-ItA tucS Will 'iAS
instinct at six werks Of age, or even less.
Nearly all our choice breeds ara the offspring
Of parents, III almost every case, Oh both
sides, IF less than one year ola. They cume
from pi-,s, not hogs, and this process has
gene on, and bids fair to go on, till no hogs
will be left in the West, if this is not already
the case.
a male animal ought not TO be used for
breeding If under one year old He ought
TO be selected for size, bone and viyur Of con-
stitutioD, and uuJht 10 serve limited num.
Der Of sows, none of whom ought to be less
| than a year o,d-still better if they are older.
The boar ought 10 be kept up, and on no ac-
count should be allowed unrestrained access
| 70 the younger females Of the herd.
| It is to De hoped that some uf your Observ-
! ing readers will act on these hints, and give
the results in your paper When a sire, pos
sessiug the proper and necessary qualities for
one, is found, he ought to be kept ut least tive
years for this special purpose, and If the sows
ler TO him are over three years of aye, their
offspring viii be all the better, in every
respect.