OUR YORKHIRE LETTER. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, October 29.

Otago Witness, Issue 2289, 13 January 1898, Page 6

OUR YORKHIRE LETTER. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, October 29.

THE RISE AND FALL OF B HEEDS.

"Wheu a man walks upstairs he fia4s tbai he must pub forth more encrjy than when he walks on smooth and level groiaid. When he elimb3 the sts-ep side of a mountain tbe call upon his physical strength is greater still. So the breeder who wishes to raise hie live stock above tho ievt.l of ordinary snioiab of their kind mu<t exercise power beyond that employed by the average stock-keeper, dealing with common animals under ordinary circum stances. AU the latter needs is judgment of an ordinary kind and measure.

But the analogy of the illustration givjn ends on fche top-flaor landing, or the summit of the mouutain, because at either goal the man ceases to feel the opposing power of gravitation and finds a resting place. The breeder has no resting place. He- is engaged iv perpetutl vigilance and effort against a tendency in the animal to gravitate towards the uuimproved afcate. To improve animals up to a certain point appeaua to be tio easier thau to mt'cttain tho improvement up to that point when it i« reached.

In the course of improvemeat she natural powers of breeding animals ara oftfen sfcimulat' d to extreme activity by high feeding, and are kept in that condition of wvrking under Ligh pressure through consecutive generations. There is a wearing process. It; is understood that a nul > ay company, tunning au express train ab onihsavy. speed over a long dis ; -anc?, does not use for that purpose it« best and ueivesi et'gtne, bub brings out ono of inferior raluo, bo a<j to spare the iew engine the strain and damage of that kind of work. The animal organism cannot stand any mora than a locomotive et-gine c-ui the wear and tear of a race a^ainsh time ; although in the case of the animal there are these differences : that the process oi stitnulaiiou is one of sustenance also, and that the organic system after th« forcing is liable to reaction.

We have consequently, again3fe the maintenance of improvement in breeds of live stock, the natural propensity to gravitate towards tha lower type, plus r«*c!:ion following the prtsaure put upon the vital power*. In favour of naaiateuance we hive sach skill as the breeder noay happen to possess, backed by such means a* may happen to be st his service. Ibis a question of skill and means against natural tsudenciep, aud the resuHs, if favourable to the breeder, are artificial, aud can last only co long as the skill and the means are effectively employed.

Judicious selection aud assortment o? the animals for breeding are always reckoned as the principal levers for the work of improvtmenb. Feeding, training, and the details of management ace nevertheless important accessories, in&S'i uch es the wisest selection aud assortment will be waited if the properties desired are not evoiv«d by food and daily conditions favourable to their developm-nt, orif conditions conduc : .v« to cor.s'iEution&l disease or decty are permitted to exist. From carelessness regarding the conditions essential to health and thriving choicest breeds will decline as well as from inconapetency of judgment in pairing the animals.

In the assortment of animals for breeding the breedbi-'s d ffioulties are usuilly mucb lighter iv the eaclier stages of improvement than after a considerable measure of success hab rewarded his judgment and his patience. A man of little more thaa average skill cau often do as much as an early-stage breeder. Ha sees the personal fitness and unfitness of animate, and makes hie selections accordingly upon a. principle which, if nob absolutely safe, is generally conducive to good re&ulta when steadily kept in view. If to that principle of eeleption for personal merit the breeder adds an intelligent acquaintance with the ancestry of his animals he may go on successfully into the higher stagps of improvement, aad may make for himself a name. But V7hen success and a name are g&itied then comes the grand difficulty. Fresh blood ia wanted, and he cannot find any good enough fo mingle with that which runs in the veins of his own animals. This m^y become a great snare and cao3B a downfall. The dread of reversion if he should take in a email proportion cf plebe.ian blood, and the equally strong fear of taking a strain as old and pure as his own lest its very age and purity should give it power to neutralise its own strain, and so alter tho distinctive characteristics he has so carefully fixed, may induce him to dalay until hi 3 success is much past the zenifch and the decline is very evident. In Use meantime, possibly, olher breeders have obtsiiued some of hi 3 stock, dated to lako crosses from less isoble strains of blood, and among sundry examples of failure there ia one, or more than one, example of distinguished success. A cross, perhaps ono of questionable purity, and certainly of inferior power, has just given the needed new blood, whilst its very weakness has made it harmless. The characteristics of the alieu are kept dowu by the superior power, V?&0&i thus iuvifiotatsd, reproduce!} tlie best

properties belonging to the older aud more concentrated blood.

If the breeder whose judgment originated or established the improvement be himself the successful experimenter with a fresh element ho has the gratification of seeiDg the maintenance, or the restoration, of his own work of improvement in his sbeck.

WOOL VALUES.

The movement in general trade has not been further impeded during the past week, but the check to buying on the p-rt of spinners continues as a very pronounced featuie in this wool market. Consumers still stoutly fcffL-tn that there is nothing whatever -to warrant them in paying the prices asktd by topmakers, they fi'iding it impossible to do new trade unless at old rates. This makes the situation a very difficult one, and nothing but the barest possible quantities wanted immediately for consumption are taken. Then sellers affirm thab prictß are to-day worse by a farthing than a fortnight ago, with buyers very indifferent even then. All this is bub a reflection, of the condition, of the manufacturers and the stoppage of exports to America, coupled with the diminished doings in jams to the Continent. S ill, for all thafc, there in fair confidence in th.9 market, men believing that more will bd doing before long. r Jhe following table shows the course of ptices during the month now closing, and rejjreaents the general asking figures of to-day :

•escriplion of Staple. 1 ■§ 02 O CO v <v ,n o t> O d. !H D! 01 9 J)\ !)" 10 9} 10 us S & o -to o O v o "3 o v ,Q o o T* 9i »i 949 10 10 Lincoln liogcs Lincoln wt-theiS Deep-grown hoggs ... iJeep-arown wethers... White super hoggs ... "Whi'esuptrwethers . lii-h hopgs Jri^h wethers Pick Shropshire hoagt Pick Shropshire ■«e!hers Oidinary half bred IIOfTRS Oidiiury ha If bred v?ct)iers Wiltshire T^own tegs Wiltshire Down ewtt Oitlinary 60's, BuenosAyres tops I Ordinary 60's, colonialj ti P3 Super of, colonial toos Ordinary iffe, colonial tops Orijinaij' 32's, colonial tops Turkey average mo hair Cdpe firsts mohair ... a. I a. '•>}' ti-\ 9 9 Pi !H 9 9 10 10 10 10 9}: SJ 9j; si in vi iv: iii I d. 91 "1 9 Pi 9" 10 95 10 d. 9i n 9V » to {»? 10 9 r i 92 5i 95 91 i)j 0J 9J99 1 * 1 I Hi 9} Hi 51J PI 91 Hi HI m! 172 19 | 19 i! 0 20 12} 12? 12 I 12 I7j; m 16^ HSA, I 171 in 17} 17* i 39 19 19 I i 18320 20 20 19} I^3 12i 12i 124 12 12 I "I "t 17i lGi 17i J6i 18 17 ' 18 17