UNKNOWN

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2668, 25 October 1882, Page 4

UNKNOWN

3)ho common Baying, that the breeding am A Lic.od cf the m;.le forms one half the bard, is in tho main true. It ia remarkable, Jkowovcr, to what extent family peouliaritiea cding to tiie female line. Of course, very diverse cross-?, followed up during a aeries Of years, will affect the most skilful previous grafting u t ou any family known to the Record. So fcl'J will the removal from a locality shore ihe climate, soil, &o , are favorable, nt.d where the feed is both abundant dad good, to ore where the opposite oondiWohb prevail, cause variations in the highest degree disappointing. Under such influonoes, the greatest skill and tact will fall ghort of the mark fumed at, and no complete Results will come of any plan of selection, no metier how wisely made. This has been observed of certain families noted lor tenaciously holding to the peculiarities wiih which they first started out, such as the jj-laaurkas, Gwynnos, Aylesby Ladys, ~Mir.nn.il, Tou;ig Marys, Phyllises, and many others. The fact of this adherence to peculiar typo shows that forms and peculiarities osccct be controlled through the sire alone. Of oenrse variations ooour, depending upon the individal character aud blood, whether of Booth, or Bates, or of miscellaneous breeding; _ . There is nothing that cornea within the province of the breeder which requires so much knowledge of the art of breeding, as Cube selection of o;oj»es. A thorough expert hat it in his power to build from a foundation of plain females, and in a few years if be ohocr. s his males with consummate skill, be may shape up a comely and profitable herd ; while a mna starting with a well selected herd cf females may, in n few years, depreciate the heel, through indifferent adaptation of male animals, till the produce show neither beauty nor substance. An error very commonly committed, is breeding from young, untried bulls. Where this is practiced upon females of high merit, the ;esultf may be anything but encouraging, She move being a step backward rather than forward. Of course, there are young bulls of naoli superlative individual excellence, backed up by such excellent deccent, that they will not do otherwise than get superior progeny. But this is often not the ease; hence the plan should only be entered upon when the inducements seem exceedingly favorable. Young bulls sometimes sire moderately good calves the first season, the quality increasing as they get age, though the females are alike each year. Men become so restive after having a bull £a use for two or three years, though his breeding Is unexceptionable, and his get have proved to be full of merit, that they are ready to put him off at a very moderate price, many times ’aking a very unequal chance in fihe matter of replacing him. This anxiety to Sell paves the way for some one to get a bargain. Hence, the best way to secure a bull to heal a herd creditably is to advertise for one, and after carefully scanning the answers, look among them in person, and as the proof of the pudding is iteid to be in the eating, so aho proof of the trustworthiness of a sirs is £n the merit shown by his get, backed up by hin own personal excellence. It is n question worthy of consideration whether any bull should be pat to full use ia a herd until he lies made so favorable a mark opon a limited number of young things as to Nettle any doubt as to his value. An exception to this would occur in the case mentioned above, where both the breeding and the indirid""’ "carit were so high as to pretty much preclude any chance of risk. Where a herd of the fattening breeds seems to bo parting with its tendency to taka on flesh promptly, the o wner should not delay, bat make a bold and effective change at once. Females whose ancestors (have been first-class, will, through tile ueo of carelessly selected sizes, deteriorate, becoming long in the legs and narrow in the uraist. The natural tendency of animals wnder domestication is to vary, and Darwin was right when he said that “if there was no {tendency to vary, man could do nothing.” It K 9 this tendency to vary that places the aaonldinv of the forms of our domestic animals in our power. This moulding is done through selection; and m the male is the source from which we Deceive one-half the herd—that is, by comuton repute, one-half of each individual in the herd—the breeder is very unwise who does not watch with groat vigilance whatever occurs in the shaping of hie young stock, meeting any tendency to go backward with a prompt corrective. Too much length of leg and thinness of body should be counteracted by the only known remedies, a thick shortlegged male and liberal feeding. We have known herds so bred for a series of years, that long legs and narrow bodies crept in tittle by little, the resalt of want of judgment and industry ia securing the right kind of a male to stand at the bead.

There are but very few large herds that do act really need two bulla. If the owner iinolines to keep pretty close to what ii termed "fashionable breeding" he cannot «xpeot to do this upon a lot of females posoessiug a variety of forma and diverse degrees mt morit without seeing a portion of the (increase deteriorate. Where this occurs—and It will in three herds out of four—the owner should not rest quietly while his herd is dividing into two sorts, these growing more and more apart in their characteristic* eaoh year, but abculd instead of this, if necessary, go outside of his " line " rule and reclaim. Where the females of the herd aro getting iioo long in' tho leg and too slim in the waist, it is certain that the breeder bas oaused (those undesirable points by want of attention to the simplest, yet most arbitrary and anbending rules. For herds that are departing from the true type, and losing desirable beef-making qualities, nothing short of a bull «f tbe most derided tendency to corpulency, broad on bis top, deep in bis body, and short on his legs, will restore the missing dualities. This will be a muoh easier task ijftan it was for Hubback to engraft the desired qualities upon stock which had not before possessed them, or, if at all, in a minor -degree compared to himself. Easier, beoause fiubbaok held to his individuality by a weak tenure, and not by the long line of uniformly good breeding possessed by all shorthorn's nowadays, that are worthy to be called auoh.

Young breeders, and those about to make their first purchases, sometimes raise the luet'cion as to whether it is neoessary or best to pay muoh attention to color, as some have assisted that, so far as shorthorns are oonoerned, white was the origical and prevailing oolor of these cattle, the prejudice against white being, as is asserted by some, of recent origin. We do not believe there will be any ffeiy marked change of opinion in this regard during the lifetime of any breeder now living, *f ever. The fancy for red is nit of recent origin, but dates far baok. In a work by James Lambert, on the subjeot of cattle and -other farm stock, published in London in tbe first quarter of the last century, referring to the selection of a bull, he says: - ,; Lei him be of good breed, strong in Simbs, er;d well proportioned. As to color, 6ho bright red is counted the best for breeding, and no advise that be be not above six years old, but rather under."

For a Tory long period—wo cannot fix the aumbor of hnndrod years—there was suoh a fancy entertained for the red cow, that her milk was accredited with pesacssing nutrient and healing qualities notkntwn in the milk «£ oowl of any other color. While there is an oilor th it chows to saoh good advantage in the pssluro sa b roan, whore the colors are well apportioned, still som>) men prefer the xed, and will oontinue to do so. The belief entertained by tone, that a light colored cow will ceo£E33rily fatten easier, and mate better heof than one cf deep color, is not sustained by tho facta. A rod, bred for fattening, will ho tho equal of the bcasS cf any other shade or color. This is as trne as it is that the Berkshire, or tho Eisex hog, bred for fattening tendencies, will tako on flesh as promptly se tho white hog, and produce flesh that in not excelled by any.