The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-11-19
No. Al
PRINC1pI1s OF STOCK BREED1Ns.

S pme years ago two ofrtends-young
men-were discussing the kind OF
work they we're to take up in life.
Both were energetic, ambitious
Young men. One was naturalist
and loved to be in contact with ma
ture and her creations The other
was a village boy. He had good
parentage and being an only son, he
would inherit quite good deal OF
wealth. He knew agriculture and
nature only in a general way. But
something about them was enticing
TO him. And so during the course
of few months earnest meditation
and consideration the latter chose as
his work animal breeding and raising
aud feeding, and the former con-
cluded he was fitted tor the legal
profession.
And then their ways parted. One
went to college. The other remained
at home. Preparation came first.
The would be lawyer must first OBJ
tain a general and scientific educa-
tion. The would-be breeder must
know something about the principles
that underlie animal breeding. He
vented to begin right, go he thought
the proper way was to get the best
animals, and so he went to the agri-
cultural fairs as q means of eduoat-
ing himself regarding these points.
There he saw the symmetrical
well-bred, fine grOomed animals,
among the best of the respective
breeds. He had read all he could
find in reference to the principles Of
breeding. He was impressed, as you
are, with the principle of heredity or
that like produces like. q ood ami
mails produce good animals, and poor
animals produce poor animals. So
he was taught and that was suffi-
cient. He spent much time at the
fairs, and when he went home, he
had purchased several of the best.
And with this foundation stock, he
began his work. But in the course
of years his barns did not fill up
with the kind Of animals he had an
anticipated. He failed to get the
duplicates of the parent stock. While
he had purebreds, they were not OF
the original type. And he saw some
thing was wrong. H3 did not alto
gether doubt the trueness of hered-
ity, in spite of his own personal evil
dence, but he felt he had learned
only half of the lesson, which was
the fact. Like produces like" il
true but that is not all The other
half of that lesson consisted of this:
That while those animals inherited
their fine forms and their uniformity
of class or type, they also inhe rited
something else-ability of unoon-
sciously adapting themselves 30 new
conditions, because all breeds of do
mes ticated animals are inf fenced by
the changed conditions of climate,
food and habit.
Our wisest naturaIists tell uB
that the uniformity that now char
aoterizes the buffalo, for instance,
once belonged TO the horse, COW,
sheep and hog. And we look at these
to day-see what a modification Of
type. The dininutive pony and the
ponderous draft horse both from a
common ancestor. But why the diff
ference. One got transported to the
barren, bleak, tempestuous isles Of
Scotland and the small, diminutive
Shetland pony results. Another
went down to the fertile lowlands of
Normandy and Central Europe, in
pleasant climate and luxuriant food,
and the prodigious draft horse was
created. Pony, trOttef and draft
horse-all from the same ancestors,
heredity tracing back 30 the same
point, but three entirely different
creatures. Climatic influences are
always at work, and in free state in
nature are always active. But when 4.
domesticatio takes place, climate
loses a part of it's influences, because
the mind of man counteracts and
moulds a creature after his own
fashion. He does it by understand
ing the principles that underlie the
Improvement of live stock. Man CO.
operating with climate aocelerates
the transformation, oounteracting
it's effects he retards it. Saunders
gives us an illust -stion of this in re-
gard TO the horses Of Canada. ''It
is evident hesays, 'the causes that
TCONTTNUED ON PAon81