Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1877-09-27
i Y E. STOCK,
IS IN-AND-M BREEDING A CAUSE OF
go. DEGENERATION AND DISEASES

. +E" 060Gn AAn AAS3
FL. The great majority of writers on this sslb-
ject cautien the breeder, ia the NEST eatn-
est Imaaale,:, against carrying in-and-in
breeding farther thantone or two genera
stions,,9 many are utterly opposed to 1T, and
there is a very general opinion among
breeders that it mus Dc followed by injuri-
oas results. III my@last paper, However, [
pointed out several indications for it, in all
of which, to make a perfect success, it must
be carried to IL considerable extent. 1t is
therefore a matter of the utmost practical
interest to decide if in-breeding has a di-
zectly injurious effect On the offspring; in
other words, is degeneration or disease the
Inevitable result of using this method Of
breeding2 Ihave no doubt a large malori-
tyet breeders would ansWer this question
unhesitatillgly ia TIC affirm atfse indeed
am greatly surprised at the widespread.
prejudice against breeding from nearly re-
lated animals, considering the extent to
.whichit has been craried by the most sue
cessful breeders, and the Invaluable results
which have foloveI $50 deep-sct is this
f~,rejudice,1 however, SO constantly are the
INJURIOUS effects ofilrand-in breeding narped
upon, and so necessary, is it tasat breeders
should have, q better understanding OF the
matter, that Lam forced into more "details
than l had ut first intended for anyoof these
papers, E.EsErBsE tfF1rT G9E
va, 1t close Interviewing We're OF itself inju-
,rlous, this effectwould certainly be continue
Gus, and would Increase with the time
through Which the cause extended colse-
quently, though some constitutions would
aesistlongcr q alFothers, all would finally
bc&bfokcr down, and Regeneration would
be the result of all continued in-and-in
breeding Now; has this been the case, and
ifnot, has it'bctll carried To d sufficient
tent-intle cases of apparent success to en;-
Die us to come to 4 practical decision in re-
gard to it,! The few facts which follow, Sc
lected as they arc from many at our com
mand, are to my mind a sufficient answer to
these 'Qfuesfolis!q cru JUG 8Nsa 9F8
If we take tie English thoroughbred
horse, we find it has been inbred to a quar-
'dred and fifty years. an~daccording to Stone
Sheitge 1t is next to impossible to find two
horses thataare not related; and the names
OF Eclipse Herol,,.ss and, lConductor,aath the
three contemporary descendants Of tile Dar-
ley. Arab, the ,BByerly Turk, and the Godol-
phin Barb, or one Of their Immediate des-
pendants, will be seem IN the fifth. sixth or
seventh remove of all our thoroughbred
horses and often thefuanlcs Of all three will
be found repeated four FIVE or six times
apiece. Very many breeders have bred in
the closest possible, manner, and have in
this way produced extraordinary animals.
Mr.. Haiickey Smith has collected a long list
of such aiifnhls.,i among which appear the
names OF Flying Ghilders, High Flyer. Old
Fo:... s"eetbrfalr,a,gg eoNtiindielr and 'Cheyalier-
e-Saint-deorseslsanson); and this has been
carried an NJ lla sspresqlt i(dhssi aatallput the
produce losing their fertility, their constitute
lion o., their. intelligence. \ Indee,,- Stone
henge eonsi,lers-a mtto be eeesht4stly HE re-
suit of a re~unionroaflines kept separate but
u few generations. True, many OF these
horses arc lacking in bottom and sound
ness,ibuf all admit this is owing to inper-
feet selection and not to relationship. 1t w
examine the p~edigrees Of our most celebrat>
Ell tiotting horses, we shall find that not Il
few of them are the result of every close in-
te~rbreeeding and with n1elearer knowledge
OF the physiological principles involved and.
more rigorous selection, there is every rea-
son to hope that they can yet be greatly i'm
proved by the same means.
Tits unnecessary to 60 into the details of
the hrenlinn of SAnrtharn rattlr-thny are