INTRODUCING NEW BLOOD.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 799, 23 April 1910, Page 8

INTRODUCING NEW BLOOD.

BREEDERS' EX- ■.;;',:",,■;•'-';■ :' : -..'PEBIEN.C?. ,:..;'■■., ■;" How far-is itsafe to go in in-breod-.fag?. The point-was touched on' incidentally in., Mr.; D.K:: Bell's* article on breeding, sheep for ;type, published in ■ last Saturday's ; Dominion;, Mr. Bell: wrote -.particularly ..with''" reference;, to", the', American; merino. ■ This ".week's mail has brought to hand an interesting article in the London "Times" nn the subject of in-breeding in shorthorns. ; In tho. career of tho best herds,

Bays - the writer, there comes a time /■'■• when the introduction 'of fresh .blood is essential. ■ Quality,."stamina, and utility'may be maintained for: a.good part of a lifetime by the judicious intermixing of the strains of blood repre- " serited within the herd, and while this ;... " impractical matters, go smoothly, with -.;; the management ' But .'the safety may ;,. be.', more , apparent "than. real.. So ;' long.-, as' the ;constitutional -vigour of "the:. stock : . continues, .unimproved, the system; of close-breeding reduces un-i certainty as to the type and;character ,-;■ of/the offspring toaininimum; and it ■r M.;.m'.-<th'is, form of' safety thai, .the ; danger,,of ultimate disaster,lies., Ou> ' crossing,; as .the blending of dissimilar ■ ■■strains is .termed, .is' iiot only a deli- ; cato : business, but niay , ond : in..failure, ■ .."• even in the hands 'of:"the most skilfu -: ■and thorough.student.of pedigrees: -The step, .however, has. to bo taken .'at . eometiiae or other, and the;history of tlie- shorthorn, breed, the "Times" continues,,, brings' out clearly the error of 'deferring, the process .too long. Continuous breeding : on narrow; lines, though ,• at; gives consistency of. type,.colour, and : . symmetry, leads -to' weakened constitution ; and deterioration "of utility, and the worst ef 'th'eso' snrions' influences ia .that they may have; taken effect before th.ey.can.be; discerned in. the outward appearance of.the animals. Tho sud- : denness 'of. the- collapso of some of rthe greatest'strains/in the'history of the gfcat._ breed : of cattle 'proves that evil agencies had been at work before they .-.were/detected,;; and the " moral for ' ibreedprs. of : the .present day to ; ivait for indications of depreciation, ibut.'.to resort- at short.intervals to.the iritrodoctionof fresh blood, and thus, .■by a. carefully-considered process of 'gradual.- replenishment, ,' : preserve : the quality and'utility in combination with . constitutional strength:.. : . , ... /■■ . The ! j blending ■of distinct,- strains of blood is the most'delicate process which breeders of pedigree animals are; called iippn to' manipulate. Violent crossing . ; :is i too • risky to -. be -indulged in except >by, way ot , experiment. There have ,beou ■. - examples of -brilliant , euccess in' bleud- . .fing widely, differing types, ■ but : disas-' .'trp.us results have been -more frequent, ;.and herds of.high, repute have receded : into obscurity. Tor ~ years'-- in .consequence of drastic crossing. . Tho wiser, .: though slowoiy (»urst.is• to reach the extreme 'limit , :in..dissimilar: strains, if : ;.that':,shbul.d. be. -desirable, by , easy ;": stages—that is, by. going a step fur--■ther removed from the lineage of the cows,each time a fresh bull is introduced. The pi actice of, tho late Mr. ; ! Athos Cruickshank,' the unassuming .tenaut^farmot- , ol Sittytoii, Aberdeen--1 ehire, ; cited in this: re-

.epect, 'arid, is.-'agajh'" quoted , by 'the '{Times", Mi. .'Cruicksliaiikls totone, .he.'says?°will live, in shorthorn -Ihistqry.. with -those . of. the .Collings, and .'.Booth;. .••' He was ,an'ek■wemely cautious breeder, and proved the qualities of every. . bull introduced into; his herd 'on a small.', scald' Before .introducing;'him as a stock bitU,' The .practice--'.requires patience; and solf-de-siial, but its wisdom has been fully vindicated by'thoso iwho have, followed' in Mr. CruiokshankY steps.' .-■'.' ..'.'..' '.Up to the middle .of the' eighties, : the Cruickshank . strain, . though it had taken' possession' of America, had 'not penetrated into. England..'ln 1886"Mr. i ■W; Tait, under: whose management at ■Windsor/ the Royal herd had achieved

■'■" its ■reputation, made one of the most 'important adveftturcsjn the blending -of. strains'that the history of the shorthorn breed can show.' .This decisive etepi the London, "Times" declares, . has done'more than any other to main- : -tain the supremacy of .the'shorthorn at home and abroad. The 'adherents of the Bates, and-'Booth strains rejected the idea of replenishing their in-bred ~'■. herds by -new blood.'■ from. tho blocky, ■''-'characterless,"■': Scottish' shorthorn. Failure was predicted , for Mr..;Tait's bold action; but though.it was courage- .-. oijs and justified_ only by the desperate \nature of the situation, it has revolutionised the breeding.'_of-'shorthorns. .There, are : 'now few herds 'in-existence ■without a leavening-influence from Lthe . 'Aberdeenshire families,/ .all of- which ;were .descended: from" the Cruickshank ; 'herd at Sittyton. The' Cruickshank cross ■lias*' been more ■ .successful - with;,'the ; .Bates'than with . the Booth strain. ■•Nearly-all the adherents ,of the.' Bates' : -aid : . Booth ,types'... nowaday?,V,go : :'to Aberdeenshire. for the .out-crossing in- .. fluences -necessaryito make "their. Sherds ';.';, conform' to : the. modern- .taste' in short":sana.,. '-■'■■'. V;.■ ■ V ; ■"■'•.■.■.:'.'.'