ADVERSE INFLUENCES IN THE BREEDING OF LIVE STOCK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 6

ADVERSE INFLUENCES IN THE BREEDING OF LIVE STOCK.

Mir Pringle/ fa' -life* writings, already* * quoted,..says :— "lfc'is well known.tha.t^pijre j- wblfe- ewes 'th'atx'have been served" by pure I white ianfs ■ of^the same breed occasionally I produce., black lambs ; and in cases, [ 'although."'' two or three generations or more i may 'have "oeen "free fr-6m''the objection- . able ' colour yetr at ' will* be , found,' when I the > r case is traced back, that there existed

! in the same family a black ancestor,- gener- I ' ally a female. The same -peculiarity is observable in swine, , and thus we .find sometimes black -Berkshire strws producing pigs which have^the yellow colour, with black spotSj» -which .marked some of the ancestors ,pf the present improved breed." Breeding back is not,, however, the sole disturbing influence which has been experienced by breeders, and there is one which merits a larger / share of. attention than it has received from breeders in general. . It is this — that the sire which is first used, and to which the mare; heifer,' or other female * produces offspring, may, >as Dr t,sarvey~t ,sarvey~ of -Aberdeen, pointed out. many ; . years ago", so" influence her future offspring "begotten by other males as to a greater, or less extent to ingraft upon _them its own distinctive, features. In support of j this view, Dr" Harvey stated, among other , things, that "in foals in, royal j • studs at Hampton^. Court, got by-, the hoise Actaeoti, 1 there were > unequivocal ■ N marks ( of the horse Colonel, .' by ! which \\ v the , Jams/ :of these ioals,"] had been .' served- ' the .previous" year.'",] Again, .a colt, the property: of the Earl of j got. by -.^Laurel, " so.: resembled 1 another "hprse (Camel)" ,-thatj it was 'Jwhis-"[ pered-r-nay, even' asserted— fat Newmarket | that /ha was"- got by- Camel., ' It~was ascer- 1 twined/ however, that' "the '.only relation { which the,; colt ,-b~ore-, to ( Camel .was J that j the latter had ' served his dam' the | season." > ;\ ' . , The case, of the Earl of Morton's : mare I • has 'been often quoted. She had beenj served by a quagga, and the offspring liorei distinct marks of. the sire, both in '.the I cross bars' which ' distinguish -that .species and also' in the formation .of different parts ;of the" body. This was, of course, u tc be] expected ; but when the same mare was afterwards^put to a stallion of her.own „ kind, the still bore the distinctive marks of the quagga. An account of this case '-was published in the " "Philosophical Transactions for,- 1821." A somewhat similar "case came under Pringle's notice. A superior __ Clydesdale mare was served two years successively- by a large .Spanish ass, and in the third' year by a Clydesdale stallion. The foal by the latter resembled a mule in every respect, having very long ears, long and narrow hoq|s, and' a thin | and scanty tail exactly like that of a mule. / \ Pringle cites numerous examples to show that similar results are ef frequent occurrence in cattle-breeding. , Hie says : — " Black polled coM r s J which . had. when htifers, been put to a, ' shorthorn bull, and, in afte'r^ears to J black bulls of their own breed; hay© w produced 'calves by /the latter similar,- in^cplpur, and otherwise to • the' off- j spring of-flieCsitbrthorii l^nll; M^\One;Tiotable ] instance^ of this .kind, came.- imder^ our own ! observation: - : ' A ' -^black ! --cow, de-j scended-Tjy sire and-.dam-irom herd well • -known in" Ayrshire, "had 1 been -crossed when-! a-, heifer-; by.,- a ' well-bred shorthorn bull. "She 'subseqiifently' became' the property oL ■ a gentleman, who exhibited her, successfully on various occasions, and 1 , being desirous to have. a black polled calf from her, she was > sent -to a prize polled Angus bull. The produce, however, was a nice horned calf, exactly resembling a crossbred calf. The owner oryrhe cow was highly indignant, believing that some fraud had -been practised upon him ; but it ,was fully ascer- ■ tamed that the owner of the black polled bull to which the cow had been sent had no other bull about his place, and as the cow had been travelled by rail between the "two places it was at least improbable she could have been 'served, in the interval by any other bull than the polled bull. After we discussed- the matter with the owner of the v cow,, he became satisfied that the peculiar" appearance of the calf was due to-'thau singular feature in the physiology of breeding, to which allusion has been;

made. . Vx Regarding sheep. Dr .Harvey stated, on the authority of Mr William M'Combie, that "six >very superior purebred blackfaced horned ewes -were tupped, some of' them by a .Leicester and • others .by V Southdown ram.-" Next year the same ewes 'were put to. a -very fine pure • black-faced horned ram. ;of the same breed as the, eyres themselves, and. the lambs thus begotten were- all, .without exception, polled,. and brownish in the face. The same occurred "the following year, the ; ram used being another of their own breed*." Again,it has been ascertained that if a lot of aged Cheviot ■ ewes which have previously had lambs ,two or three years successively to pure Cheviot rams are pat to a Leicester ran*, many fif tJie number will produce

lambs which -present th& characteristic 01 the sire, but there will be bonie whose lambs will show a closer resemblance to the pure Cheviot — so much so, indeed, as scarcely to mark them as distinct in any way from the pure breed. If. on the other hand, a lot of pure Cheviot gimmers are put to pure Leicester rams, the lambs thus begotten will run to the Leicester side almost without exception. Again, if a lot of aged West Highland) cows which, in like manner, have produced, a succession of calves to bulls of the same . breed are put to a piiie shorthorn bull, the progeny wilLnot b© so equal in appearance tis the jwoduce of West Highland heifers which had been put for the first time to a shorthorn bull. Such, at least, have been the results of the ! observations and experiences of famous breeders in this matter. / Although, such results as those which_ are~3etailed in the foregoing cases do not, .perhaps, occur in so regular a" manner as to warrant the piomulgation of. a general rule, nevertheless I they do occur in such-^a way as to afford [ a good reason why_breeders should be exceedingly cautious witE xespect to" the sires : they employ,- 1 morcK especially; -^rhen. , -.such abe used for tlie first "tiinie-.'with. females' I of any class of stock. '~As Eriogle -perti^ I nently : "Since it is the case, that . tfce female system, at least occasionally, I imbibes' certain influences , from' the. male I Which 1 modify ' her future progeny with ether males; jit will be seen that 'the use \ o^.. crossbred', or- impure sires, with piirely[»bred females lias an injurious effect, not I only, in the case of the immediate offspring, but may also extend its influence to the pro T i duce of pure sires which are afterwardsused. Herice the mischief .produced by the use, of impure sires. is. not confined to oner generation, ' but is spread over and affects olher generations, and the breeder's expectations are defeated in what usually appears to be v very mysterious manner. Nay,- ■ more, the character of the pure sires used afterwards' may be seriously impaired if the breeder is igho.rant of the effects pro^ duced by the impurelj'-bredi sires that were first used, and .had ingrafted their own distinctive features on the, future-' progeny of the female." . - . - Another" disturbing which leads to certain distinct results in breeding"' arises from the power of imagination.' This/influence,^ however, is to some extent under' the co"ntrol of the breeder,' and' may be"' made subservient' to his services. There are few breeders in the Home Country, who have-devoted attention to the subject, who are not" in "possession of, the .Jniowledgs, of certain* occurrences which seen to- confirm jAic opinion that the- female is susceptible^ of e&rtain influences/ arising from the ima-i giratioff -during/the time she- is ' in season. ; arid which afterwar'ds.'nianiJlest thein'power in-'her 'offspring. For cample; nearly every-, one <who Jij.as'- had" experience -in. the breed- . "ing. of stocky .can -,cite some case, or other' which; shows, that the .colour of_.some anirniifis' has^Jbaen. affected"'. by .certain trivial' external- circumstances. Thevf ollowing ex- ' tract' from -Mr Boswell's prize> essay on" "Breeding" allustrates the point now -amder consideration. He says : "From what My own experience, as well as" the information of trustworthy men, has taught me, I am r inclined to think that the- calf very ! often takes after the beas<> that -has "been I jumping on the cow (whether ox or cow) ! previous to Jier being taken to the male. One of the. most; intelligent "breeders I'-have ever met with, in .Scotland (Mr ' Mustard, ■ I an extensive farmer on Sir James' Carnegie's j estate, in Angus) told me- .a singular fact with regard ib what I have now stated, j One of his jeows chanced, to come in season i y/hile. pasturing in a; * field> - whiclu was'j bounded by^-that of one of his neighbours, i out of which ah ox jumped, "and went with., the cow until she <was. 'brought home to the bull- The. ox .was white with, black spots, and horned^ Mr Mustard had nofi a horned beast- in his possession, one -^ with' any white - upon it. -' Nevertheless, ."tbp produce of the following spring was a black, and white calf with horas." - In ant article on the "Hereditary Disease -of Sheep and Pigs" .in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society .of England, Mr Finlay Dun says that,^ "it can easily j be proved that meie sensuous impressions. . acting' on j:Jie femal|;,at>the'time /u of^impreg-Vi natron,or. evenl during pregnancy sre some- ! limes, capable 'of -" affecting^ the? offspring.;: Mares „and bitchesVifrequently . pf od.ucey.6ff-J spring . different , th© sire; but ' reV sembling in.'cfilour. arid, appearance- those aiumals with which -tlie -mother iias-been\ ke.pt,- or " of 'which she has, been "fond. George Combfr ntentibiis a case 1 - in which two horses were got with "pretty markings of a very uncommon kind, by leading a horse with such,-inarkings''Jbefore two mares prior to their .being covered. The parents ( in each case w«ce different, but the young (! horses were soNsimilar ia colour that they could scarcely be distinguished from each, other, and' both had the' same markings as the horse that was ' led before - the" -mares at the time they were impregnaiedL (^ ] Pringle,/. of his own knowledge, vouches - for the' following, which, has a direct bearing on the subject immediately under notice. He writes : t "At on© period, from some cause or other, the breeding of grey horses was fashionable in Ireland, and a.gentleman resided in Meath was in th« habit of Saving a white horse led before each mare when she was about to be served by the stallion. ' The result was a large-pro-portion of grey foals. A late ..eminent breeder of shorthorns made it a tul>6 tioat a red cow should be placed' in" front of tie cow that was being served wnen -eitheT tnu bull of the cow in 1 season was of a white colour ; and notwithstanding that he frequently used white -bulls for lengthened periods, - he. had" comparatively few white animals in" his herd." In a paper read by Mr Finlay Dun ati a meeting of the Midland Farmers' Club, ] June "1, 1871. it was stated:—^old.3lrj Bates, of shorthorn celebrity, was wont toi state that. colour was very much under the] control of t-he breeder ; and in so saying ' may possibly .have believed it to fee thus modified by the imagination of one- or both of the parents,, especially at the excitable period of impregnation. *The liberal use of whitewash in the premises occupied by a large JSTortli of England herd pf shorthorns

was discontinued, as the staring white walls appeared', year by year, to multiply the number of white calves dropped- At ar reoent sale of fashionable shorthorns, the. number of light-coloured young animals was accounted for by the fair owner's natural love of seeing her favourites in welllighted places, frequently cleaned and' freshened by the whitewash." Mr Dun also cites the case of a. purebred shprthom cow which, as it -was being taken to the bull, got accidentally into a yard with a large number of black oxen, with whom she remained for a short while, until tha herdsman got the assistance of a boy tor drive her along to the shorthorn bull by which she -was impregnated. The cafe born was marked with black spots, had large, -coarse Jhoms like those of the black . cattle, and "was very unlike a pure shorf> horn. Many similar <^ses -could be cited; bat it 'is. quite certain that during the past century" breeders of pure^ stock in the Homo Country never omitted the consideration of the -'disturbing" influences that mighfc afiect thteir animals. Efforts - towards ths improvement of Mive stock -on -the farm Would notsbe so fruitful of disagpOTntmfents slid 'fanners^ perceive-the-neees-.; sity • "of. guarding >_against : disturbing in- • fineness. '•■*'" * - " - ;- -