Breeder

“ The distinction nevertheless is so striking and so continually before the eyes of a practical breeder that he can scarcely avoid the inference that when he meets a considerable degree of sterility in a cross-bred he is dealing with something belonging to a distinct category, and not merely a varietal feature of an exceptional kind. ”

“ If even in such minute particulars as these, hereditary transmission may be distinctly seen, it becomes the breeder to look closely to the "like" which he wishes to see reproduced. Judicious selection is indispensable to success in breeding, and this should have regard to every particular—general appearance, length of limb, shape of carcass, development of chest; if in cattle, the size, shape and position of udder, thickness of skin, "touch," length and texture of hair, docility, &c., &c. ”

“ Now it has always been known that breeders could produce a race of markedly peculiar form or characteristics by selecting the individuals possessing this quality in the highest degree and breeding only from these. The breeder depends upon heredity, variation, and his selection of the individuals from which to breed. Similarly in nature new species have arisen through heredity, variation, and a selection according to the laws of nature of those varying in conformity with their environment. ”

“ But the sterility which must be obtained by the selective breeder in order to convert his morphological species into physiological species—such as we have in nature—must be quite irrespective of breeding in and in. ”

“ With a full understanding of the knowledge and practises of the breeders of two decades ago, it must be admitted that the conception of unit characters and Mendelian segregation was necessary to clarify this knowledge and bring out the latent possibilities of the material presented by nature for the use of the breeder, and it is doubtful whether we even yet adequately comprehend the almost infinite possibilities open to us. ”

“ Many breeders have their own pedigree blanks printed, and if you buy from a recognized breeder you will get these blanks containing the pedigree of your animals. A pedigree, after all, is worth only the record of the blood in your stock, and if that blood is the best in fame and performance then the value of your pedigrees will be increased manyfold. ”

“ Now we know of no facts which forbid us to suppose that could a breeder continue his operations indefinitely for any length of time—say for a few million years—he could convert the short-horned breed into a hornless breed; that he could go on and thicken the tail, could shorten the legs, get rid of the hind limbs altogether by a series of insensible gradations, and convert the race into forms like the Sirenia, or sea-cows. ”

“ The fact that these exist is what the breeder has to deal with, and a most important one it is, for it is this chiefly, which makes hereditary transmission the problem which it is. His aim should ever be to grasp and render permanent and increase so far as practicable, every variation for the better, and to reject for breeding purposes such as show a downward tendency. ”

“ During the last century there has been constant improvement in the various breeds of animals, with a view to perfect their form and shorten the time required for their growth. The breeder has learned how to stimulate development, and has fixed the quality of early maturity, through hereditary influence, until it is now transmitted with the same regularity as are other characteristics. ”

“ In making the selection of the gilt, consider the pedigree and the individuality of the animal. Unless you know the pedigree it is best to leave that to the reliable breeder with whom you are dealing. ”

“ The breeder who wishes to combine fancy and utility properties in any kind of live stock must breed only from specimens that are meritorious in both directions, selecting much more carefully than when breeding for one class of properties. ”

“ There is one circumstance, however, which the breeder occasionally forgets, but which is of as much importance to the permanent value of his stock as any careful selection of animals can be—and that is, good keeping. ”

“ These breeds are always produced in the same way. The breeder selects a pair, one or other, or both, of which present an indication of the peculiarity he wishes to perpetuate, and then selects from the offspring of them those which are most characteristic, rejecting the others. ”

“ A very large number of instances of this kind have been reported to me by well-known breeders of horses, cattle, pigs, dogs, and pigeons. Sometimes a breeder will fail to obtain offspring from a male and a female of known fertility whom he wishes to couple for some special reasons. The most celebrated living horse-breeder informed me 546that frequently a mare, which in other seasons with other stallions has proved fertile, may be coupled with a stallion likewise of proved reproductive potency, and will fail to be impregnated ”

“ The breeder is thus enabled through selecting the traits or characters that are wanted and crossing them with a well-known stock, to produce almost any trait or quality that he desires. This law makes it possible to estimate the results of cross breeding with almost mathematical exactness. Improved varieties of fruits, grains and vegetables have been produced in this manner, and with animals marvelous results have been achieved. ”

“ As if we could expect nature to go out of her regular course to give us a good animal, when we have violated her laws!
The offspring of these crosses will be grades; but grades are often better for the practical purposes of the farmer than pure-bred animals. The skill of the breeder is especially manifest in the selection of animals to breed from, since both parents undoubtedly have a great influence in transmitting the milking qualities of the race. ”

“ If this careful selection is carried on through a series of generations, the selected breeding-sheep are in the end distinguished by a wool which differs very strikingly from the wool of the original parent, and this is exactly the advantage which the breeder desired.
The differences of the individuals that come into consideration in this artificial selection are very slight. An ordinary unpractised man is unable to discover the exceedingly minute differences of individuals which a practised breeder perceives at the first glance. ”

“ The sheep-breeder can, however, avoid the effects of in-and-in breeding, and at the same time preserve the character of his flock, by seeking rams of the same breed, possessing, as nearly as possible, the characteristics which he wishes to preserve in his own flock. ”

“ In artificial selection, the breeder takes measures to prevent this swamping-out by deliberately pairing similar or suitable forms together, or by deliberately removing unsuitable mateable forms; but what in Nature corresponds to the breeder? ”

“ The task of the practical breeder who seeks to establish or fix a new variety produced by cross-breeding in a case involving two variable characters is simply the isolation and propagation of that one in each sixteen of the second generation offspring which will be pure as regards the desired combination of characters. ”

“ The same methods of selection that establish a breed are used to maintain it, or to establish strains. In ordinary breeding there are two other principles that are sometimes called into play. One is prepotency, the other is inbreeding. By prepotent we mean having unusual power to transmit characters to offspring. Suppose a breeder has five yards headed by five cock birds. The male in yard two he does not consider quite as fine as the bird in yard one, but in the fall he finds the offspring of bird from two much better than the offspring from yard one. ”

“ In ordinary practice, breeding from near relationships is to be scrupulously avoided; for certain purposes, under certain conditions and circumstances, and in the hands of a skillful breeder, it may be practiced with advantage, but not otherwise. ”

“ As breeders of domestic animals, when they choose certain varieties in preference to others to breed from, speak technically of their method as that of 'selecting,' Mr. Darwin calls the combination of natural causes, which may enable certain varieties of wild animals or plants to prevail over others of the same species, 'natural selection.'
A breeder finds that a new race of cattle with short horns or without horns may be formed, in the course of several generations, by choosing varieties having the most stunted horns as his stock from which to breed; ”

“ Has not the speed of our trotting and pacing horses been increased and maintained at a high rate by the most careful selection? To one familiar with the history of agriculture and breeding these questions arise fast and are likely to be insistent. There can be no doubt that the practical breeders have made advances by selecting from the best individuals. No genetist or scientific breeder will deny this. It is simply the question of the interpretation of how the results were obtained that is in doubt and whether these results can be considered as permanent, new unit characters. ”

“ Where you are breeding stock for shows or for breeders and are handling pedigreed or registered stock, some attention may be paid to blood lines, but do not make the mistake so many new breeders do. Blood lines are valuable in giving you an index to the individual's possible performance as a breeder, but unless the individual itself is right, forget all about the blood lines. ”

“ If is well known to stock breeders that the closer animals are bred in-and-in, that is, the nearer the relationship of father and mother, the more prominently the traits of the parents appear in their children and become fixed in the breed. It is evident that in the earliest epoch of the human family, the closest inter-breeding must have prevailed without restriction, as it does in every species of the lower animals. ”

“ Each breeder's success is determined by the more or less favorable conditions of the situation, district, or country, and by his sagacity and discrimination in selecting those in which occurs the greatest increase of size. As the conditions vary in different localities, and as breeders possess different degrees of scientific knowledge, animals and plants would be differently improved, and thus there is established a series of gradations all answering to the characters of as many varieties. ”

“ A peculiar and, it seems to me, an inexplicable fact is, that previous pregnancies have an influence upon offspring. This is well known to breeders of animals. If pure-blooded mares or bitches have been once covered by an inferior male, in subsequent fecundations the young are likely to partake of the character of the first male, even if they be afterwards bred with males of unimpeachable pedigree. ”

“ What English breeders have actually effected is proved by the enormous prices given for animals with a good pedigree; and these have been exported to almost every quarter of the world. The improvement is by no means generally due to crossing different breeds; all the best breeders are strongly opposed to this practice, except sometimes among closely allied sub-breeds. And when a cross has been made, the closest selection is far more indispensable even than in ordinary cases. ”

“ Breeders are generally of the opinion that good care and feed bestowed on their stock produce results in succeeding generations. This is in a way true, but it is due merely to the fact that the offspring get better nourishment and therefore a better start in life. The changes in breeds, the increase in milk yield, and similar facts, often explained as due to inheritance of acquired characters, are better explained as the results of selection, sometimes conscious, sometimes quite unconscious. ”

“ A pedigree is merely a systematic record of the ancestry of a given specimen. As originally planned the pedigree system was of great benefit and value in arriving at the breeding value of the individual. Some form of pedigreeing is practised by all live stock breeders, most of whom have a stud book or breed book in which such records are kept. ”

“ If this definition of the term breed be correct, no grade animals, and no animals not possessing fixed peculiarities or characteristics which they share with all other animals of the class of which they are a type, and which they are capable of transmitting with certainty to their descendants, can be recognized by breeders as belonging to any one distinct race, breed, or family. ”

“ Breeders have carried this principle so far as frequently to advocate the growing of plants in the environment most likely to produce the change desired, as, for instance, cultivating tall plants like twining beans in the north or at high altitudes if it is desired to produce a dwarf type or, vice versa, breeding the plants in the south and at a low altitude if a giant or tall type is desired. ”

“ Yet with all this advance in our understanding, the methods of breeding that can be recommended for the use of practical breeders have changed but little in the last twenty years, the greatest change being primarily in the greater surety with which we now make recommendations. ”

“ Are we, then, to conclude that the practise of breeders in continually selecting from the best for propagation is useless, and must we advise practical breeders to discontinue their selection? How can we do this in the light of the success of the sugar beet breeders? Have not Sea Island cotton growers increased and maintained the length and fineness of their staple by continuous selection? Have not corn growers maintained high productiveness of different strains by selection? Are not the Jersey and the Holstein maintained at a high degree of efficiency by selection? ”