THE SCIENCE OF BREEDING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2604, 10 February 1904, Page 46

THE SCIENCE OF BREEDING.

Like-begocs-like theories and fpneies have got some rude shock? siince Bruce- Loweg?ve horse-owners a simple method of acquainting themselves with the potent blood of tho Stud Book, and ho ha« <-e.t thousands thinking in such a way as they never did boforc. Before the advent of I/owe, it wa= the fashion to mate winning mare* with winning sires for no other reason than that they were both winner 1 : ; but that notion is fa>t going out of date, for it haii been pretty well proved everywhere that much belter results are to be got from scientific blnnding of tho few stout families in the Stud Book. It; i« not too much to say (pays a writer in the Sydney Ma ; l) that vith the advancement of the horse breeders' education Iho quality of the Australian horso will alco advance beyond the present standard. We have alr-eady shown that we can produce horses capable of holding their own on tho Old World racecourses, notwithstanding the very few pure horses we brsc-d as compared with England and the Continent, and the few we lia^o c ent abroad to try conclusions with the racehorses of America and England. Several of our stallions have gone to America, and have proved most successful. While en _ the American tracks Stromboli, though virtually a cripple when ho left here, fairly paralysed all opposition, yet he wa* hardly fir«t-clai-s in his own country. Paris, Ncwhaveti, The Grafter, Georgie, Form, Mernan, ar.d Acmena have done their share in England, and if our breeders would pay mprp hoed to the blendiing of blood instead of running bald-headed after the idol of the hour, they would in time breed better hors<M for tho splendid marked opened for them, apl thw make the breeding of thoroughbreds a much more payable, business than it is at present. L?arge sums have becii ghea for Carbine and Trenton, who are now in England, and the Ge-rman Government have paid £10.000 for Oarnose, a horse- not to be compared to many stallions now in Australia, either for conformation, pedigree, or performances. Patron i~ al^o i:i the old country, and a worthy representative he is. All thes-e s,nlc« are bold advertisements for the Australasian hor=,e, and the facb that such good outlets are available «hould spur the owner of every thoroughbred mare in the country to pick the most suitable mate in fh-o land foi her, in the hope of breeding somf-tli'ng that will command tlie attention of the man abroad, who always wants histh-rlass stock, and has the money to pay for them. Many ycaro ago John Osborne, struck by the fact that the Engh=h hor c e needed a tonic in the shape of fresh blood, wrote: — "Experience points to America as a source from which to draw the regenerating fluid, for the American thoroughbred takes its origin from Eagland, and ,6 still more cr le~ related to the English prototype." That w wittcai before the ad\ent of Bruce- Lowe, and after the victories of Iroquois and Foxhall on tho English turf. Lowe's system of u-iag figures to identify the best — and wortit — English families has put back thp old breed of American horsas in tho estimation of woll-read turf mm, ina'-inuch. as it has shewn the fal'acy of dipping into the American blood iv tho hope of striking tho much-desired "regenerating fluid," which, unfortunately for them, is tainted with the blood of native American mares that were- s.o extensively used with imported Etiglish. stallions when America was an English colony. A hor--e with impure blood in his ve'ns may be a good rac-ehor ; e, but his cha'ic:- of getting ract^ hor&e- X cm© jn a thousand. Impv.rp creeses do not interfere with ths hor-e on the racecourse-, but when it comes to a qtiestion of producing his like at the stud they fail, as all impure hordes have done and will. The writ-er remembers a halfbre-d draught gelding named Victory in Queensland beat e\ei-ylh:mg he wa=; iiitched against o\c-r tyro furlonjG. Among In? \ictiui« was the- notorious Sow Tom — one of tho LMest horses i» Australia over a pliorc course. Had Victory been a mare, and been bred to n pure horse, there- was a chance of th& produce being able to gallop a furlong or two. but if he, had been a stallion he would mot ha"\ c got a racehorve out of the p.ck of the Stud Book. These nnpu-e shams ]>cg;n with marcs, and aie handed r'onu to ov.r day, but only through the femple l.nes, and ne\er by the sire route.