The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 15, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1861, 15 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 15, 1906.

The season has arrived when farmers begin to pay to the subject of breeding, and in order to assist them to come to the best conclusions we propose in this and following articles to place at their disposal the results of long study and experience, taking the subjects of horse, cattle, and sheep breeding seriatim. Intrinsically the subjeet of horsebi'fe'Hng is an important one—more so, perhaps, than those who are not directly interested in it are prepared to admit. Eecent events have transpired to gj.ake it even more important, for it has been clearly demonstrated that the ysry safety and stability of the Empire depends very largely upon an adequate supply of suitable horses for transport and* cavalry work, to say nothing of the importance of the equine species in all civil pursuits and in the development of industries and commerce. The

truo vuluo of tho subject will bo rnoro acourutoly gauged wlion ouo romotii'

hors that notwithstanding tho introduction of machinery into every branch of trade, aoarcnly a business can bo successfully run without tho employment of horses. Evon our sports and pastimes aro novor enjoyed without tho aid of tiro horse, for if tho homo himsolf doos not actually provido tho sport, ho novortholoss contributes his

slinro of sorvico in drawing a (rim carringo or other conveyance to the trysting piano. In poaco or war, toil or pleaanro, his sorvieos aro indisponsable, and it follows, without the noeessity for argument, that in ordor to have those services performed to the boßt advantage, somo attention must be paid to tho subject of brooding the j classos of animals best suited to tho varying requirements of mankind. It cannot be said, howovt r, that tho subject has been altogether neglected, for in at loast two branchos there is a good doal of rivalry and laudable emulation shown in tho endeavor to produce typical animals : nor can it bo said, on tho other hand, that, gonorally speaking, anything like a systematic, or even intelligent, endeavor is mado to produce tho beßt type of general utility horse. Indeed, it is only when special circumstancos arise which create a temporary domand at slightly improvod values that any attention worth mentioning is devoted to the production of any hut tho Clydesdale and the raceliorso. As to tho former, little need bo said, bocauso he sorves his purpose very well; his main function being to maintain a steady pull within a limitod radius, and already a due share of interest is I manifested in proserving his standard of excollonco. It is not a little cu-ious that tho only other type of animal to which general attention is devoted is wliat might be termed the antithesis of tho Clydesdalo in all essential characteristics—the racehorse. To the love of sport inherent in tho average Britisher, and to the widespread spirit of gambling, this is principally due, and not because tho racehorse can be said to serve, or be adapted to, any useful purpose which could not be better served by a different type. As a matter of fact, the tendency of modern racing conditions (hurdle and steeplechasing excepted), is to produce animals that are useless for any other purpose than what a shrewd Scotchman once pithily described as “ Hying the length of a paddock with a doll on its back.” Everything in the evolution of the racehorse is nowadays sacrificed to speed, and the greyhound type of spindle-shanked, small-waisted sprinter, fit only to carry a doll, will command a many times larger price in the open market than the more substantially built one that could carry a stockman or a trooper over fifty miles of hill or plain. Yet it is claimed by those who profess to have some degree of expert knowledge that tho racehorse possesses the maximum quantity of durability as well as speed: but in this respect it may be successfully argued that the modern racehorse lives upon tho reputation of his progenitors of the days when sprint races and feather weights were unknown. Be that as it may, the racehorse is not tho type of animal best adapted to the many requirements of man’s every-day life, and we must look in other directions for the type of animal that will be most likely to fulfil those requirements.

The question here arises, Is it better to breed an individual stamp of general utility horse, or to endeavor to evolve a type of animal best adapted to each one of our many requirements ? It is possible to do both ; but, except in the case of the small farmer, who has many uses for the horse, and who would find it very inconvenient to keep one for each of his uses, it is far more advantageous to have a distinctive type for each particular use. That being so, the main consideration must relate to anatomical proportions and size in establishing the ideal type in each direction; and it will scarcely be claimed that more than three distinctive types are necessary, that is (1) the heavy draught horse, (2) the light harness horse, and (3) the saddle horse. Already, as has been stated, the first of these is very well provided in the well-defined proportions of the Clydesdale and the Suffolk punch; but no intelligent attempt has been made to supply either of the remaining two, for it cannot be asserted that flat racing, to which attention is chiefly devoted, tends in any way towards the attainment of that purpose. Devotees of racing will, of course, deny this, and in support of their view may quote instances of cast-off racehorses and their progeny performing useful work in all departments where horses are used. That may bo granted ; but the point to be remembered is, that with proper classification and training of separate families best suited to particular requirements, far superior types of animals might be evolved than any we now possess. For instance, the trotting gait and an anatomical structure best suited to pulling a weight placed on wheels are the essentials of the harness horse, whereas a quite distinct method of locomotion and ability to sustain the weight on its own back without jerking or discomfort should be the indispensable qualities of the saddle horse. Is it reasonable, then, to assume that the two animals used for such totally dissimilar purposes can best be evolved from common ancestors ? The question admits of a negative answer only, unless total separation and exclusive separate use of the progeny has prevailed through many generations. An instance of this may be found in the Yankee trotter, whose characteristics are even more distinct from its paront stock, the English thoroughbred, than the latter is from his anciont progenitors, the Arabian and Persian horse. Except the Yankee trotter, we have at present no distinctive type of light harness horse, and very many of the Yankees are not suited even for that purpose, owing to the same cause which has rendered the racehorse unfit for any other purpose than sprint racing, viz., that both are bred for speed only, and all other qualities are totally neglected. We have really no breed of saddle horse at all, except the few remnants of jumping strains that have become contaminated by admixture with the more weedy, though perhaps more speedy, sprinter. Every horse that is nowadays used for either saddle or harness is simply the result of a chance selection of both sire and dam ; they are bred for no particular purpose, and every sire and every dam is considered good enough to breed from. Crossing between the Clydesdale and the sprint racehorse is not uncommon, and the thousands of nondescripts commonly grouped under the appellation “ hackney” are crossed and recrossed upon no definite principle of selection, nor with any definite object in view. The one and only principle of selection adopted by breeders is that defects in conformation in either sire or dam may be compensated in the progeny by mating with an animal which possesses the opposite characteristic. But the exceptions to this rule are so numerous that it is surprising to find how prevalent the notion still is that the rule is an invariable one. As a matter of fact, the' exceptions are the rule, and will ever remain so until distinctive types

aro ostablitihod in strict accordance with tho woll-dolinod principles of ovolution, and Icopt distinct from even momboro of tlioso typos wliich do not approach tho ideal aimed at by tho host-informed brooders.

What those typos should bo has boon indicatod abovo; but it would bo

an easy matter to subdivide tlioso throe loading typos into families varying in size or othor loading characteristics, if thought uocossary, so that from tho polo pony to tho Clydesdale wo would have distinct gradations,

each ono roinotoly rolated to the otlior, yot quite distinct as a class, and bred for a special purpose, For instance, the light harness typo might be graded into families ranging from the massive carriago horse to the chaise pony ; and the saddle horse would includo the 16 hands hunter, the 15 hands cavalry horse, and polo pony. Having estabHalted our ideals of perfection in each particular class, the unalterable aim of every hroodor should be to reach that ideal as nearly as ho can ; but in I endeavoring to do bo ho must not proceed by guesswork, or expect to attain his object in the first attempt. It is, porliaps, discouraging to say that, from the heterogeneous collection of animals at present used for breeding purposes throughout the colony, the ideals cannot be reached for many generations, and that, too, only by the most careful selection and mating, and seclusion of the types until they have become fixed in the character of the progeny. In the first place, it is essential that every animal used for breeding should be free from hereditary diseases, and defects such as roundness and sponginess of bone, or undue anatomical proportions, for it is quite a fallacy to suppose that these defects can bo remedied, in one, two, or three generations. For instance, it is sheer waste of time trying to obtain a perfect stamp of animal from a mare with convex feet and abnormally long metacarpals, by mating her with a horse possessing an opposite conformation ; yot that is what is generally assumed and practised. The reason of this is plain. Nature does not advance by leaps and bounds; her progress is unnoticeably slow, and she will not be hurried along in any required direction. This idea is philosophically expressed by Buchner, when he says: “ Incessant and minute change is one of the conditions of life; sudden change is disease, and no change at all incipient death,” and the application of that truism to the subject of breeding cannot be profitably disregarded. But there is another consideration, quite as important, and strictly dependent, though not apparently so, upon the same principle. The breeder is often surprised and disappointed on obtaining from what he considers to be faultless and carefully-selected parent stock, progeny totally dissimilar to both parents: he is puzzled to account for it, and he generally accepts it as an evidence of Nature’s leaps and bounds. Superficially examined, his conclusion is right; but as a matter of fact, it is nothing of the kind, and the deception arises from the fact that the breeder invariably builds his conclusions upon the characteristics of the individual parents, and disregards those of the two, or more, families from which the progeny has sprung. It is quite safe to say that, wherever this great divergence occurs, it is a direct result of a total absence of homogeneity—-that is, the indiscriminate crossing of dissimilar animals —in one or each of the ancestral strains. Indeed, the wonder is, having regard to the heterogeneous character of the animals used for breeding, that this result does not more often occur, and the fact that it does occur so frequently should form the strongest incentive to avoid its cause. This can only be done by a strict observance of the truism quoted above; by offering no violence to Nature’s laws in trying to induce rapid changes of conformation; and by a selective system of mating based upon dominant family characteristics, rather than individual ones. The close study of years and numerous experimental observations have convinced the writer of the absolute truth and importance of these general principles upon which unvarying success must depend. Tae tyranny of newspaper space precludes a more detailed exposition of these important considerations, upon which the science of evolution throws a flood of light and convincingly arranges their minutire.