Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-07-15
EIIyE5Tq6K - |
The Importance of Breeding for Quality
Rather Than size,
HORSE BREEDING.

Rather Than size,
| Vastly as the various breeds of do
meSticrlnimals have been improved
since the establishment of the many
agricultural aud other associations
which exist for this purpose, 1t Is ex-
ltremely improbable that we have
reached finality Of excellence in any
particular species.
The most important point in breeding
as 1t seems TO me- aud the most essen
| tlal to insist upon mt the present time
| Is TO go for quality rather than for size
/ Quality is not a thing easy TO be de-
I fined, but it is as obvious 10 the initia
ted as size Is to the general eye. If size
\ is wanted we can get size, (nay we are
getting 1t, for all kinds Of stock are
| bigger now than they used TO be- but
we should aim to get it gradually, not
| all at once. This is true of other
lthingsin ship building for Instance
| The Great Eastern was a costly and
gigantic failure and for the reason
/ that she was an anacironism. Grad
ually we have worked up to vessels Of
| her size (the Oceanic, launched the 9th
er day, Is somewhat larger but they
! have not been failures, because
strength and speed have advanced in
equal ratio with size and tonnage. Now
| ii we breed horses for mere size wes
make just the same mistake, and the
result Is huge, OYer-grown brute, soft
| and clumsy as a rule, aud nearly nj
ways deficient in that quality and
4 character" which alone makes the
| horse desirable companion, or pleas
/ ant TO Use. We must, therefore, of
/ corr 3 breed carefully for what is re-
quired, and Il certain amount of bulk
| is essential for heavy dPaught work,
| but for every other purpose activity
| and endurance are of far greater inn
| poitance than mere size and weight
| For omnibus and tfam-car work, per
haps the hardest 20 which horses III
this country are put a horse of moder-
ate size. say from 1000 to LOO Id. in
weight, Is always to he preferred: for
| il too light the exerton of constantly
sarting the great weight of such yehi
| cles is too much for them, and keeps
them in poor conditions. while If too
large the continual hattering upon hard
roads wears out their feet, and they do
not last. On farm lands, too, except
perhaps on heavy clay, the moderate
sized animal answers best for general
purposes. On Large arabic farm in
this place where many horses are EN-
ployed. IA former teaant besides sever
al teams of moderate sized animals,
used always to work one team Of very
large horses, and another of quite
small ones. Wien questioned as to
their respective merits, he would reply
than they each did about the same
days work, but that the small ones
lasted much longer, and We're less ex-
pensive to buy and keep. 1t will. |
think be almost always found that
whenever any special achievement i'll
VOlVing high courage, speed. on endur-
ance has been performed by either
horse or man, it has been by an indi-
vidual of small or 1T mcst of average
size, and very rarely by large speci-
men Of either race.
\ very interesting consideration in
breeding il the respective influence on
the progeny of either parent. 1t is,
believe the opinion Of all breeders of
wide experience that no rule of abso-
lutte. or even approximate certainty can
be laid down, so much seeming to de-
pend upon the comparative vigor and
strength of constitution of the parent
of either sex. 1t has even been stat
ed that there have been more instances
than one of own brothers being used
in the stud, in which one has invaria
bly, cot stock resembling himself in all
particulars, even in the non-essential
matter of color. while the other, for
some unknown reason, has begotten
descendants so unlike as TO be rarely
recognizable as his offspring. My own
experience. so far as it goes, is to the
| effect that the produce is more apt to
resemble the sire more nearly in tenn
per spirit, and perhaps in outward
| CONFORMATION; the dam in size, stamina
and constitution. S
For this reason should he less reluc-
| tant to breed from an uGsound sire
than from an unsound dam, on the eX-
pectation that any hereditary inhrmity
would be more likely TO be transmitted
by the latter than by the former. ON
the vexed question of roaring" being
| hereditary. | am strongly of such opin-
| ion. for whereas | have frequently
seen this inhrmity Inherited from the
dam. | am aware of no case in which
| il has been derived from the sire.
| There is In my possession at the pres
ent time an animal which, so far as
an individual case can. strongly sup
DortS this theory The mare in queS-
| lion is by Il son of GoVerness IAN Oaks
and One Thousand winner9. but a rank
roarer. which failing she transmitted
to her son out of a very goOd-winded
mare. The offspring was a decided
success. winning some sixteen steeple-
chases, many of them under heavy
weights, and throughout her training
never showing the slightest tendency
to her sires family failing. on the
other hand she had not the best Of
/ hooks Though they stood prolonged
and severe work.. and these ! regret
TO see are reproduced in her foal by n
horse perfect in respect to his. Tins
I'm one particular animal we find a
double proof OF the correctness of our
theory that the dam is more likely to
transmit defects of this kind than the
sire. Rut this must be accepted rath-
er as a general than an absolute rule;
subject. as all natural rules are, to oc-
| caSional variations. Happily il is
seldom necessary to breed from any
but constltutionally sound PARENTS but
In the case of light horses we must