Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-08-16
IS BREED SUPERIOR TO FEEDa

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rsusa o. rhr,say each vssi.rsa csss IL Eagle sza.e
Is BREED sUPERI0R TO FEED7
More Than Blood or Pedigree Essential
In high-cIass Animals.
There must always be a starting
point. A foundation must be laid be-
fore we can build. IL is surprising
how a biological theory like that of
evolution, be il right or wrong, gives
bias to mans mind and tones all
his thoughts and opinions. 1t is seen
10 crop out in the now quite prevalent
belief that breed is superior TO feed in
the development of our best races of
cattle Ii is because of this belief or
opinion that we see such enormous
sums of money paid for immature or
even unborn animals-in mero-sim-
ply because of their parentage. IL is
not efficient 10 note the fact that the
hereditary descent of good qualities
directly is very rare circumstance,
and that remarkable animals as a rule
are the progeny of very ordinary ones,
and vice versa. There is no hereditary
aristocracy of excellence in man or in
animals. Great men rarely have sons
that are conspicuous for their fathers
qualities; on the contrary, the sons of
noted men are generally remarkable
for the absence Of any extraordinary |
capacity, and the continuance of q 1
family reputation is so rare as TO be |
phenomenal. On the other hand, all
the great men Of history of modern
times have emerged from obscurity, |
and their parentage has only been re-
markable tor the accident Of producing |
them. 1t is the same with animals. |
There are thousands of instances !
against very few exceptions. When |
the horse Dexter appeared like sud
den meteor no one knew his history, |
and one was made for him. II was
the same with The stallion Smugglcr, |
and we have vet TO hear Of any of his
progeny that have a record. II is the
same with cattle. The COW Alphea has |
no parentage Of remarkable record,
aud although some Of her blood has
been unusually productive, it is not
more so than other jersey cows of
other families, or of 10 family at all,
aud some Of these have surpassed her
record. The COW Duchess, the first of
that noted tribe of Short-horns, pro-
duccd q pounds of butter in a week,
but later Duche,scs have required the |
help of nurses 10 rear their calves. |
Examples of this kind are too numer- |
to mention, and all go to show that
breed is not TO be relied upon to pro.
duce anything beyond the ordinary |
character of the breed. Breeds do not |
improve by breeding. The best ami
mals are made not bred. Accidental |
prodigies never reproduce themselves. |
sports" are known in vegetable |
growth a. extraordinary departures
from the normal character of a variety |
of a breed. such, for instance. was |
the Late Rose among potatoes, a
sport from the Early Rose: but in
few years il lost all lis peculiar char
acter. SO with sports among flowers
they either fail 10 come true 10 seed,
or they produce no seed, and even
when propagatcd by cuttings they de-
terioratc very quickly. Even seed
ling, a variety bred TO certain point,
soon loses its valuable character and
becomes poorer or worthless unless il
is cultivated with the greatest care.
Among plant-, cultivation alone has
been the source Of Improvement. Nat
urally flowers are single. The dog
rose is an example the original dahlia
is another. and there are others in
endless numbers. The gardener may
breed these plants pure and all he can
do is 10 keep them stationary. But he
feeding, in fac;-and he soon begins to
change the natural habits of the plant
From the dog rose he produces the
Centipoiia. the cabbage rose and the
moss rose, and he changes the color |
from pink TO white and deep crimson,
with all intermediate shades. So he |
makes the plain-colored, single-fow-
cred dahlia produce al shades now
known, with its hundreds of petals |
quilted in the most regular manner. |
Ii is thus with the cabbage and turnip,
the cauliilower and the beet, which, by |
breed, were sea-shorc plants, of which |
the sea rocket is a type, or the char
lock or wild mustard Of our poorer
fields. The breed is still the useless |
charlock I; il is the cultivation and the |
feeding which has produced the valu-
able cabbage and the indispensable
turnip from the original breed.
Feed is superior TO breed. Ii makes
the modern improved breed. Feeding
is manner Of training. BY its prac-
tice we may take poor animal and |
improve il. We continue this through |
few generations and we make new |
breed. But even then this will not |
survive by its own force and charac-
ter. Left alone. il speedily returns TO |
its first estate and breeds back-re-
verts-to its original type. The best
variety of turnip abandoned TO its
own resources goes back TO charlock, |
its original, in a few years. BY poor
cultivation its return is slower and |
more gradual, but not less certain. |
We take Hambletonian and put him
before canal boat and associate him
with wretcbed mules and scarecrows
and treat him as we treat them, and
his blood. made rich by generous feed
ing and care, reverts 10 the type of
the class, and becomes as poor as the
meanest scrub of the tow path In the
same way a careless farmer with more
money than wit, misled by the preva-
lent folly that breed is superior to
feed, procures Duke and Duchess
or Red Rose or Princess, and
thinks he will have a herd. lie treats
these highl, fed and well-cared-for
cattle as he treats his scrubs. They
retrograde fast, and the calves, pinched
aud ncglected-if they live-become
even worse than the scrub stock. I'll