Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-07-17

which are not always taken into account by
breeders, and seldom given their full credit.
1t is one of the first laws of Nature that like
produces like, or the offspring resembles its
parents and though this can be largely con-
troIled by selection and conditions of life
brought TO bear on the animals by man, still
it can not be entirely overcome, and often
times not as much SO as is desired. In spite
of all the forces we can bring to bear upon
her, Nature holds her sway, though variously
modified by them. This first law of Nature
is known as inheritance, by which we mean
the transmission of characters, both phys
zeal and mental, from the parent
to It's offspring. There are various
theories as to the part each parent
plays in this inheritance, but all of them are
varied according to circumstances. Few
breeders pay much attention to the inherit
ance of internal characteristics, but from my
own observation these seem to be more
marked by transmission through number of
generations than is external form. | knew
of gray mare with several marked charac
teristics which she transmitted very regularly
to the sixth generation, though the sire each
time was of entirely different breeding and
character. With the exception of one branch
this whole family (which is now very numer-
ous) never produced any other color than
gray or sorcel. The gray varied from dark
TO light, but invariably got fea-bitten in old
age, and the sorrels were light, there being
but one chestnut, and she was the only branch
of the original family that had bay colt.
The old mare was notably fast walker, hay-
ing walked fifteen miles under the saddle for
wager in two hours and half, and her
stock is far above an average in this respect.
They are all high-spirited and free workers,
and were never known TO balk. 1t is very
rare thing for q colt to throw itself while
being broken or to break halter and though
naturally afraid of the whip, they will all
fight if whipped much All these characters
have been almost universally transmitted TO
a large number of horses where different
sire was used nearly every year, and while
the outward form varied somewhat according
to the sire, the internal characteristics re-
mained the same. Strangers often remark,
on looking at large herd cattle, that they
do not see how an owner can
tell his calves apart, so many of them
look alike. But the owner, if he is
at all observing, will have no trouble in
recognizing resemblance between the calf
and its mother in some way. before the calf
is grown. At one time there were several
red heifers in one band very much alike, and
| asked if Blushs heifer was not missing, and
went through the herd carefully to look for
her. As the cattle walked ON my father sud-
ueHly cdlleu Oub, unucr sue goes Can
tell her by her walk She moves exactly like
Blush. Though this heifer did not SO
closely resemble her mother in FORM she had
precisely the same walk, and l doubt
if there was an animal in the whole
herd that did not have some charac-
teristic in common with its mother.
| remember q very peculiar and marked
case OF recognition of transmitted charac-
ter. A blacksmith was shoeing horse that
he had lever seen before, and after pairing
the fore feet and fitting the shoes, asked, Is
this horse Tuckahoey Yes, was the re-
ply. .'He is son of old Tuckahoen 81
have shod old Tuck many time" said he
$ and there is the exact counterpart Of bis
fore foot. This horse did not strikingly re-
sembie his sire in outward appearance, and
seemed to have the disposition of his dam
still, here was very marked case of inheri-
tance, OF the blacksmith, who shod many
feet day, would not have recorded it. Ami
mails sometimes inherit characters from more
remote ancestors than immediate sire and
dam. This is called atavism or reverson
These qualities inherited from remote an
cestors, must have been possessed in a latent
condition by all the descendants to the pres
ent generation, when they have become visi-
bic. Until we learn how to control inheri
tance more than we do at present we must
not expect TO get animals just to our liking
for, though the immediate ancestors may suit
us very well, as we cannot control and keep
latent the now occult characters, we must not
expect the offspring to exactly resemble either
parent or be an exact intermediate between
the two. If we made a close study of inher-
itance among our animals, [ think we would
see many characters which would not be no.
ticed at first sight, and which, as they become
more prominent in after years, we would ac-
g. n{r,r,
had been present all the time.-[W. L. \. in
Prairie Farmer.