Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1904-02-25
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Al our readers who have used th.r-
ousAbred animals, even II only Of fair
quality on the common stock Of the
count1y have been both surprised and
delighted at the results Of the first
cross. Part Of this is no doubt due to
the superior care which the farmer will
give to the get of sire for which he
has paid good round sum of money.
In fact, one Of the great benefits Of the
Introduction Of thoroughbred blood,
whether Of animals or plants, is that It
encourages the farmer to give better
care or cultivation, as the case may be.
This. however, does not altogether &C.
count for 1t.
One OF the reasons and the main rea.
son why this first cross is 50 effective is
that there is no particular prepotency
In the blood Of the common stock of the
country. It has been cross bred, indis-
eriminately bred and so altogether
mixed up that no particular animal has
any particular potency or prepotency.
When Drepotent blood is crossed with
this the offspring. therefore. take main
" after the; sire. In other words. the
influence Of the sire is preponderat1ng
in fact, dominating and controlling.
We remember reading somewhere of an
attempt to introduce breed of English
mutton sheep on the sheep of Il particu-
lar district in France. Cross breeding
failed because the sheep to be improved
had been bred so long in that particular
climate that they were almost as pre-
potent. or, as the farmer would say, as
strong blooded, as the animal intro
duced. On the border land, however,
between this strain and another strain
where there had been some cross breed
Ing the crossing with the English sheep
became very effective-that is, the lines
Of prepotency in the native stock had
been broken up, and hence the English
blood became the controlling force.
Horse breeders have noticed that q
mare with no particular blood line Of
ten produces the colts most like the sire
and for the same reason. It is always a
safe proposition to introduce any kind of
improved blood for crossing or using on
the mixed stock.
Breeders have often noticed that no
subsequent cross has ever the same Wis
ible effect as the first when that cross
has been OIL the common stock of mixed
breeding. 1t requires great deal more
judgment to introduce the second cross
than the first, and here is where the
breeder has an opportunity of eXercis-
ing superior judgment. No sire is per-
feet. There are always defects in him
and in his get, and sometimes defects APP
pear in his get which had not appeared
in the SIRE the result of the inheritance
in blood which for some reason had not
come out in the individual. We once
used Il herd bull which was remarka-
bly, smooth, level and exceedingly fine
animal. We were greatly surprised to
find that the majority of his get drop
ped little just behind the shoulders.
The bull showed nothing of this, but
evidently it had come down from some
ancestor; therefore the sire should be
selected with view of correcting the
defects in his get. Wherever that de-
feet may be the succeeding sire should
be particularly strong in this point.
If any man makes half the advance
with the second crossing that he did in
the first, he should be satisfied, and the
greater number of crosses the smaller
proportionate improvement will be
made, partly because there is less room
for Improvement and partly because
there is more and more similarity in
the blood lines.-Walla&'s Farmer