Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1878-08-22

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often produce the most variable progeny
1t would seem, therefore, that the writer in
question draws it rather strong when he
says: We insist that this claim is founded
upon mere assumption-an assumption that
is not only erroneous, but seriously preju.
dicial in practice. The claim rests upon the
false assumption that the family has the dis
%tinctive characteristics usually attributed to
a breed or race-that is, that all the MEM
bers of the family are alike, and if inter-bred
will produce this uniformity" What we
contend, and what no amount OF this kind
OF argument can overthrow, is that the
members of a family, for the reasons given
above, are much nearer alike and more apt
to reproduce themselves in their offspring
than are the different and unrelated MEM
bers of the same breed and that this resem-
plance and hereditary power will increase
with the length OF time they are inbred.
1t is, therefore. a settled conclusion among
the more intelligent theorists and practical
breeders, that like parents produce similar
offspring, and that unlike parents produce
variable offspring; also that we never be
certain that parents are like, unless they are
related. OF course, where the .characteris-
tics which we desire have become the COM
mon attribute of a whole breed, and are
regularly transmitted by it. it is folly to
practice close in breeding, because we will
p%erpetuate individual defects without a
chance of increasing the good qualities.
Nothing OF this sort has ever been tttempt-
ed in breeding thoroughbred horses, says
the writer; ''there is no record of Eclipse be-
ing to his own daughter or sister, or of any
effort to establish a type by breeding the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. to his daughters and
granddauglters." But it is not true that
lin the early pages OF the stud-book we find
constant instances of very close in-breeding.
often carried to SUCH an extent as,to become
incestNous2" 1t is not true that Eclipse had
distinct lines of White D. Arcy Turk
IN his veins? 1T is not true that some of the
most celebrated Of these horses, from that
Gay TO this. have been the result of close in
breeding? SO notorious ;re such facts, that
considered the cause of a " hit,
to lie the reunion of lines that! had been
separated for a few generations. and believ-
OF that under other circumstances it would
rarely occur. Again. Stonehenge saws:
: : Let him ask what horses have been the
most remarkable of late years Us stations,
aud, with very few exceptions, he will find
they We're considerably in-bred.' And the
Is true of some OF our best t%rotters
yet when all is told" says Hark Conn
stock. its ii. e., the Hambletonian family's)
greatest results are seen where it has doub-
upon its own parent strain from Abdal-
|all. and the more this is tried, the better it
seems to work."
Now, all this shows just what the advo-
Gates of line breeding contend, viz. +: that the {
members OF a family are more alike than =
he members of different families of the. same
breed. and that they will more surely trans
nit their excellent qualities when bred to- ]
than when paired with families to
which they are not related.
In regard to the disastrous effects Of In
breeding, we can only say in this place that i
.hey nave not followed in the hands of the 1
'est breeders. I'relisposition to disease, or |
disease itself. is as readily transmitted by :
breeding as good qualities, and if breed
rs allow their stock to becme unhealthy. =
ND still breed from it, accol ding to this sys- p
there is no cause for wonder if it is de- "
troyed. And SO. while it true that incestu- :
US breeding with swine has proved disas-
rous where they were confined without ex-
rc!se, and heavily ied-where the predom-