OCR Text |
Show DON'T INBREED. We are often asked the question, 'Ms it practical to inbrecd my stock-just stock-just a little?" For instance, many times a farmer finds a bull that breeds exceedingly well, and after getting a nice lot of calves from him, he hesitates hesi-tates to buy a new bull, and consequently conse-quently wants to know if it is safe to breed this bull back to his own heifers. heif-ers. From all the experience we have ever had1, and all the experience we have observed, wc should unhesitat ingly say that it d"ods not pay. Sometimes Some-times a first-class animal is obtained from a cross of this kind, but more often wo get a weak, sickly offspring that is a living example of the curse of incostuous breeding. Inbreeding is one of the most powerful tools in the hands of the skilled plant or animal brccd-c r. It works with powerful certainty cer-tainty in the fixing of good and bad characteristics. In the hands of the man who knows what he is doing inbreeding in-breeding is permissible to a certain degree. 'In the hands of the inexperienced1 inexperi-enced1 it is usually a dangerous tool. As a general practice for the average farmer wc would always say "never inbrecd." If you have a bull that you wish to keep a little longer, take his offspring outside to be bred to another an-other bull, or buy a young bull in addition, ad-dition, or it may be practical to trade bulls with your neighbor, so that you both can get the benefit of both bulls. n |