BREEDING. Breeding, in agriculture, is the art of so coupling animals and of so rearing them as best to tit them for the purposes for which they are intended. The fact early became known that characIeristics of the parents were transmitted to the offspring; hence the saying, true enough among wild animals, that like produces like. In natural selection among gregarious animals the strongest male takes the pick of the herd, dur ing the years of his vigor, to be again and again succeeded by other strong males. Hence, among such animals we shall often find the same sire for two or three generations. This has now come to be a prelty well established law in breeding up, to breed in twice, and once out. This rule, how ever, is only a general one, and requires close study of individuals to enable the breeder to ar rive at the definite results he seeks. This rule however, coupled with that other rule founded on common sense, to breed only from the best, and aided by a close study of the peculiarities and ex cellencies of the several animals, both in constitu tion and physical development, is what makes the difference between the successful and progressive, because intelligent breeders, as against he who breeds at hap-hazard A critical study of the form and proportions of an animal with a view to their adaptation to the desired end, so that in animals intended for human food in connection with symmetry and physical excel lence,the prime parts may be fully developed, as in animals for speed or draft, great heart and lung power, with corre sponding development of bone, muscle and sinew, is necessary to any 011e who seeks to excel in the art of breeding animals Early maturity is essen tial in all animals, but especially so for those in tended as human food. In animals intended for speed, it is of secondary moment, since precocity in every case tends to early decay of the natural powers. If the reader will turn to the article on cattle, several cuts of improved breeds of the last century, Ayrshire, Durham and New Leicester, will be found. Taking the difference in the en graver's art as being 100 years ago and the present time, they may be taken as fair representations of the breeds as then existing. It will be seen that the New Leicester would be accepted to-day as a good steer. The others would now be called very bad. The model Short-horn cow, here shown, and that of the Ayrshire of the present day in the ar ticle Ayrshire Cattle, will form a good study, and will show the great stride in improved cattle, true of all other farm stock, and more eloquent than pages of descriptive writing. Therefore, in breed ing any class of animals, a close and perfectly trained eye, and a correct knowledge of the ani mal organization is what makes the successful breeder. Bakewell, who lived about the middle of the last century, may be' called the father of scientific breeding. During the present century he has been followed by a host of correct breeders both in England and North America, in the sev eral departments of horses, cattle, sheep, swine and poultry; and again, in the subdivisions, that arise as to the special use which the animals are intended. Thus, among horses, we now have those intended for speed in running and trotting, for style in the carriage, the heavy draft horse, and the horse for general utility. In cattle we have those eminently adapted to the production of beef, for labor and for the dairy. These again being broken up into classes, as in dairy cattle, those giving milk, rich in butter, while the milk of others are as well fitted for the production of cheese. However much the breeder may under stand of physiology, and the excellencies of the animal make up, if he fail as a feeder he fails en tirely. A starved animal of any kind is a losing investment to its owner. Especially is this the case with he who seeks to breed up, or keep up to the standard those already excellent in their finish. The object of breeding being to improve the animals bred in such qualities as have a defin ite value in the market, as the production of ani mals capable of labor, or of producing superior meat, milk, or wool. The breeder must work strongly to obtain high development in some par ticular quality. The time has long since passed
when mediocrity in several essentials, and excel lence in none will be accepted by the buyer. Oc casionally two or more excellencies may be per petuated. Thus, the Devons are noted for the ex cellence of their beef. and their value as beasts of draft ; yet their laek of early maturity, and the moderate weights of beef they attain has carried the Short-horns and Hereford's far ahead of them, since, now-a-days, beef and not labor is what is desired in the steer. So the Short-horns were once fair milkers and fair beef-makers. Some families are so to-day. Yet, those sub-families, that are eminently beef-makers, will far out-sell the others in any sale ring, and for the reason that we now have cattle eminently adapted to the production of milk. In breeding, heredity, or the power of trans mitting characteristics should be studied and the transmitting of useless or injurious abnormal char acters guarded against. Dr. Miles, in his work, Stock Breeding, has collected many instances of acquired and abnormal characters and illustrations of heredity in the transmission of highly artificial qualities, in many and various improved breeds of animals. As illustrating our meaning we ex cerpt the following: The tendency to lay on fat rapidly and to mature early is inherited in the best families of the Short-horns, the Devons, the Herefords, and other meat-producing breeds, as we have shown, while the ability to secrete an abundant supply of milk is, in like manner, petuated in the Ayrshires, the Jerseys, and other dairy breeds. The certainty with which these quired qualities are transmitted constitutes one of the most valuable peculiarities of a breed. The American trotting-horse furnishes another tration of the inheritance of acquired characters. The various breeds of dogs have peculiarities that have been developed by a long course of train• ing, which are transmitted with a uniformity that is surprising. Young setters, pointers, and retrievers, that have never been in the field, will often " work " with as much steadiness and ability as those that have had a long experience in sporting. In such cases, however, it will be found that the ancestors, immediate or remote, have been well trained in their special methods of hunting. The herd-dog is remarkable for its sagacity and the persistence with which it carries out the wishes of its master ; and it would be difficult, if not sible, to train dogs of any other breed to equal them in their special duties. The Greyhound runs by sight, and the • hound by scent, and their offspring all inhelit the same peculiarities. The curious fact was observed by Mr. Knight, that the young of a breed of Springing Spaniels which had been trained for eral successive tions to find woodcocks, seemed to know as well as the old dogs what gree of frost would diive the birds to seek their food in unfrozen springs and rills. A new instinct or peculiar characteristic has also become itary in a mongrel race of dogs employed by the inhabitants of the banks of the Magdalena almost exelusively in hunting the White-lipped Peccary. The address of these dogs consists in restraining their ardor and attaching themselves to no dividual in particular, but keeping the whole in check. Now, among these dogs some are found which, the very first time they are taken to the woods, are acquainted with this mode of attack, whereas a dog of another breed starts forward at once, is surrounded by the peccaries, and, ever may be his strength, is de,stroyed in a ment. A race of dogs employed for hunting deer in the plateau of Sante Fe, in Mexico, is distinguished by the peculiar mode in which they attack their game. This eonsists in seizing the animal by the belly and overturning it by a sudden effort, taking advantage of the moment when the body of the deer rests only upon the forelegs, the weight of the animal thus thrown being often six times that of its antagonist. Now,. the dog of pure breed inherits a disposition to this kind of chase, and never attaeks a deer from before while running; and even should the deer, not perceiving him, come directly upon him, the.