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; I i I I RIGHT AND WRONG METHOD OF MATING Bloodstock Breeders Are Prone to Blame "the Other Side" in Cases of Failure. "I hear a lot of talk about eugenics and the law of heredity. What is the law of heredity, anyhow V" ask4-4l the prominent club member of the president. "Very simple." replied the president. "The law of heredity is that all undesirable traits come from the other parent." The moral of this witty retort may be applied to tin- attitude of all antagonistic factions, but in perhaps no ..titer sphere is there such an aptitude "always to Maine the other side" as among bloodstock breeders. There are few producers who. when a mare misses or breeda a bad foal, would not blame the talli..ti, and vice v-rsa. there are still too many breeders who, when their stallions after a number of disappointing seasons, are no longer patronized. declare that they did not get the right sort of mares. In particular cases of failure either of the two parties— the owner of the mare or the owner of the stallion — may reasonably put the blame on the other side, but once this principle is generally applied the world at large derives little, if any, enlightenment of a practical value from such disputes. Nature, in :lii „ r creations, forbore from letting the world mankind, licast and plant — be governed by a monistic principle, and philosophers have in vain appli-d their wit to an attempt to solve the problem why. and for the sake of which mundaue instituti.His. there is twofoldness in everything-that is t.i say. two opposite and independently existing principles which go to form aud to det4Tiuine everything. Yet not one member of the moderate school of philosophers attained by his doctrines any more than did that old sect of Muuicheaui.. who made tin- existeii.e of tw4 external principles of being their treed anil religion. It was left to a madm-tii to .leelare that the world can no longer Ik- guided by such principles as that of "might is right." According to Nietzche might is right, and by his pr4.niiuciam.Lt., «. no-ant to convey that the t,vo-EaMaeaa in everything which was delivered the world from an eternal rule of superior brute, and which w.iuld not have given to the fittest any earthly rhaare to survive, is a priixiph whi.-li could only have beea accented by the primitive thinkers 4 f ancient times .r liv the alchc-mists of tin- Middle Ag.-s. 11. .never, the « ivilized world will niver li.-«- l any pleading which pur|x rts to show that Nature ami 1ate .-.in „. mad.- instrumental to HM will «r mankind. NATURE CANNOT BE MASTERED. F..r my part I do not believe that any of our c.m-t4-mp ir.ii i.s will discover means by which «v shall Ik- aide I., g.iit, sum.- mastery ■»•* Hm mysterious working 4.f aturi-. and. in particular. S4me knowl-iilg4- as ta Ihe inllleliee of sex IliKMI tla- deteruiiua-ti.m of iiolividual pmporth-s. Hut any such at i. -nipt ■ as tlt4.se nia.h- l.y Itru.-c Lowe, who by the as.-rib-ing ..f a .Inmiimitt influence to the female eleiiii-itt Mi, in f:i t. nothing else but "blame the other side." are bound t.» remove us farther from th goal of our aspirations. Some ix-oplc s4-.ni to believe that, in devoting so much labor to a 1 monstrat i m of tin- dominant infill. -me ,,f t]„. sjre element I am guided by tin-desire of procuring for mjself a strong KiCIN for my crusade against tin- Figure .System. I i-ontem- , plati- nothing of this sort; iuite on the contrary. I shall I..14. tv long Ik- able to prove why. if applieil | in a manner entirely different from Dime Lowes , ideas, t In- figures may serve a useful purixise. la their present style of application they an iiiisli.-Htiiig to a regr. ttabh- d4-gr.-e, for th.-iv is no biological tenable tlo-ory that may support the idea i of a «-4.nsisteiit inflii4-ni-4- 4 f the blood in tail-14-niah- i ami this chiefly bacaaaae practiially nothing is known at tie l.ieciliug 4 f the original females as 4ip|M.s.-i| by putty t-i-liabh- r -4»rds r ferring to tin , origin and bri-cdiug of those sins which reudereii I , | , i i , I such obvious assistance in the building up of the Geaaale linos. ! In the "stone age" of rpec horse breeding, communications between studs suffered through the primitive means of conveyance, and one only needs to study the first volume of the Stud Dook to per- 1 ceive to what remarkable ext4iit thesL local conditions told upon the evolution .if tin- race horse. The fact that old breeders like Mutton, lr ift. Curwiii. 1 relhani. Lord Darcy and Leedes laid the foundation of their famous studs by a juilii-ial use of partii-ular sire blood is firmly impressed upon any utihias.-d 1 mind. To all indications tlu-y did not ke.-p a big stuil of blood mares, and send these in the spring all over the country. 1 The great majority of mares wvro only rented for I one season. The healthy principle of choosing the right s.irt of mare for mm approved stallion, instead of relying blindly on the suitability of an approve.! 1 sin- to any sore of mare, has put the brei-ding of | the race horse on that sound footing from which i it raise.l itself to the loftiest heights within a re- markably short time. i WOULD HAVE FOUNDED FIT LINES. P.mee Lowe labored under the impression that the ! above -mentioned old breeders had, by some means, J picked out fifty mares of particularly goo l breeding , proclivities, and, according to his contention, these woul 1 have founded fit lines in co-o|ieration with j any knd of a stallion. But just tlie reverse is tin-cast-. Groat sires lik. Jig. lartm-r. Lrimmer. Bay ! Bolton, Careless, Did Spot. Spanker. Snake. Raid j Jalloway. Uhilders. .and so forth, were tin- factors . determining the establishment 4 f the various sue- cessful female lines, as can lie proved by the simple fait that tlu-se original f.-m.iles in wlio-te p.-digri-es . these xir -s do not appear failed to found lines fit . enough to survive. , It certainly would ho fiwdish to assert that the J well-bred mares of later generations did not play an eimally important part in the evolution of the race hors.- to that of the successful siri-s. In fact. . it can easily Ik- demonstrated that some times the I influiiiee of the. mare was almost paramount, but tlu-re is no denying that the best results in Inci.ling ■WW obtained when the mare siicieeded in transmit- ting supreme sir- blood of equal efficiency in lit red- J t.v to that of her partner. , The 135 Derhys fr. m 1S.70 to 1914 were only ten J times wim by rioMet .Whose sires and maternal grand- | sires were both classic winners, and it is certait.lv J not a matter of mere coincidence that the four eettta J of the last fifty years thus broil were IK.ucaster. J ■alopiti. Bend ir ami Ormonde, and of these both I.end Ors ami Ormondes sires and maternal gi-.,n|- J sires secured the Blue Kiband. Twelve of tlie Ii, rby J Wtaaata of the last fifty years were st.ns of classic J winners, as were the maternal gramlsiris of ten other winners. BREEDING IS CLOSELY CONNECTED. I Thus the breetling of about fifty per cent of the I Derby winners of the last fifty vars is closely •,,„_ j oected with tla- classi- rci onls 4.f t ii.- stn.ng.-r s-. Neither sire nor maternal grai.ilsire of the following IWeitty-fiV4- c.dtx has w.»n a classic rac -: Kettle- 1 drum. Caractaciis. .Macaroni, Gladiator. Vn liaaltl. » Havoiiius. Cremorne. KisTxr. Sfftoii. St. Cation. Ilat-V4ster. Mclt4.11. Merry Hampton, Common. Ladas. 1 Persimmon. Caltee More. Jeddab. Diamond Jubilee. I Vt.lodyovski. Aril Patrick. Spearmint. Minorii. Sun- tar and Als.ycur. I think we hail better eliminate C Iersiinmon ami IMamond Jubilee from this category. 1 Tor their sire. St. Simon, would surely have proved lie of the easiest Derby winners of inoilerii Uawea. I If. then, we leave out Caltee Mere ami Aril Bat- I nek which wen- expatriated ere tiey had done anv . stud duty at home, we have uhoat twenty colts 1. left iii this class, and among them we find all , those whii-h proved such dismal failures at the stud. I Ihe als.ve may eerve to show that in certain cases A •f failures of stallions owners of mans hail a .veighty cause "to blame the other siilc." for three S is. to all indications, no mare able to breed a Ih-rby I winner with any pretensions i.f becoming a great S dr.- which is not herself by a classii- winner, or |. s- | •enils in tail-iuati- liilt1ag4 in first or second gem-ia | .ion from such. — "Boulanger," in London Sporting I- l.ife. 1
