The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-02-09

the suitability Of sire. unless tls animate
through which hi. Lineage trace D. known
to correspond with the general character
Of the flock In which b. Is TO be used.
The generally accepted theory that weak
points should be corrected by correspond
ing strong points Ia the opposite seA. u
correct in grading up 90 patching lpl
minor or fancy points. ou' vi lent cfy,,
should never be made in a stud ilODk.
in.and.In Breeding.
An old shepherd who read an article
| that lately appeared in the Wool Grower.
| in which we said that the danger from
what is known as notwithstanding
is much over-cstim9ted. writes Us as fol-
lows. Not only are you right ia saving
that the danger Is exaggerated, but you
might have gone further and have said.
that even II there were more chances OF
kin breeding to kin. iiockmasters would
not have any special cause for complaint.
| Little as most OF them seem TO think It,
| it is nevertheless true that by a regular
course OF systematic breeding of kin to
kin our best sheep have been secured.
Indeed, very much doubt if in any
other way can distinct types or breeds
| $50 to speak, be established. | have, in
| The course of my breeding, had to breed
stock of the same family together in
order that might correct an inclination
to untrue breeding in certain points.
don't know what the books say on this
point. but my experience leads me to de-
| termne that the much dreaded 'in-and-in
breeding as it is called. is rather to be
commended to some extent than To he
condemned. | can easily see how ii
might he carried too far, but there is not
much chance for such results in our SyS-
tenn of breeding sheep by nocks. can
understand that every animal has its
weak points and | believe the rule will
hold good generally, that the animals
which are specially strong in certain
good points are very apt TO be specially
weak in certain bad points. Naturally,
therefore, by breeding kin to kin, or by
breeding animals that have Il vigorous
development in a certain good direction.
you may strengthen the disposition to
breed true in these good points, but you
run the risk. also, in strengthening the
disposition to breed true in the bad
points. Hence the danger, (and here
lies the danger in my opinion, Of con-
tinuous in-and-in breeding; a danger by
the way, which must be met to secure
the best results. The trouble is nos in
breeding kin to kin, in the abstract. bat
il to know when to stop. l think
though, that the average Texas shepherd
need not be alarmed on the subject, for
rs you have already shown. the chances
for sire breeding to his offspring. or of
n brother breeding to a full sister. or
even of brother and sister of the half
blood interviewing in flock numbering
up into the hundreds, are too small to be
worth gravely considering"
| tl,,. ~ o.I
says he don't know what the books say,
we will give him the opinion on this
subject, of Mr.. Randall, which he will
notice Is, IN a measure conformatory to
his views. We will also, in this connec-
ton, say to our readers generally, that
the subject discussed by Mr.. Howard
while OF little practical value to those
fiOckmasters who breed their ewes in
tocks and by nocks, is nevertheless OF
value to those who are now breeding or
contemplate breeding fine sheep in small
numbers.
Says Mr.. Randall in his work entitled
Fine Wool Sheep Husbandry," The
result of my experience and investiga-
ton is EN- bodied in the conclusion that
TO attain very eminent success l would
prefer to breed from single family hac-
ing lcithin il all the proper elemeats Of i'm
prouement If it could be done without
breeding in-and-in too closely. And
some persons are quite too easily fright
ened on the latter subject. What can be
made an evil by being carried too far,
has. by much talking and writing on the
subject. been made an indiscriminate
bug-bear at every stage OF its progress.
1t is by no means true that it is either
unsafe or improper to inter-breed ami
mails of any degree of relationship. If il
Is. what has saved the Spanish cqbdnOs
for ages? Or, 20 take specific instance
! (where there is no latitude for coniectur-
ing inpossibiities) what has kept up.
nay increased in size and yigor and i'm
proved the form of Ferdinand and Louis
Fischer's flock for fifty years, when that
flock started with hundred ewes of one
family and four rams of another family,
and these families have since been inter
bred without the admiXture of a drop of
fresh blood? Mr.. Atwood's sheep pre-
sent still stronger example. Accord
ing to his statements, his entire flock,
now scattered by colonization into nearly
all the States of the Union, originated
from one eve, and neither she nor anv of
her descendants in his hands. was inter
bred with other sheep not descended ex-
clusively from Col. Humphreys 1ocks."
Mr.. Randall here gives a number of in
stances where breeding in and in has
not only proved not injurious but benef-
cial, and then by way of summing up. he
says: "lnterbreeding between near rela-
tives becomes fatal to physical imperfec-
ton; but the drift of testimony GOES to
show that it Is innocuous to perfection. L
do not recommend it per Sc, for who shall
decide what perfection is? There comes
a time generally, when close in-and-in
breeding between the artificial species
achich hare been partly moulded by man,
produces loss of yigor and degeneracy,
/ and sometimas fhis fntnl o.,o..aL.O...