Book Description

Excerpt from The Theory and Practice of Rational Breeding In 1886, after having been a breeder of basset-hounds for some fourteen years, during which time I was an exceedingly close observer of the results brought about by the crossing of individual hounds of the same family, of hounds of differing families, of hounds of differing strains, and accidental alliances of basset-hounds with other varieties of the species Dog, I produced - being firmly convinced that there was some reason for the differences in individual, family, strain, and variety types of the species, deterioration, degeneration, difficulty in rearing, and, finally, non-reproduction in the breed - a small work for the purpose of giving the reasons for the above, and for the additional purpose of showing the members of the Basset Hound Club how a better result could be obtained. This small work was brought out, or at least the principles on which it was based, by the Chasse Illustree, in three articles written by Mons. E. Frechon, who, having studied its scientific basis, says: - "It is in the formation and application of these rules that the English have become, and have remained, so far as breeding is concerned, our masters. "Whereas we in France leave everything to luck, awaiting some fortuitous and unforeseen circumstance to produce superior types in a breed, over there (England) they have for ages modified the laws which regulate crossing. They have, I might almost say, 'weighed' the exact proportion of blood necessary to be added, through several generations, to that of some celebrated individual, so as to ensure in the end his type and attributes. "Yet, notwithstanding pedigrees and the like, we, on the other hand, unfortunately for us, continue to breed, trusting to luck, the outcome being, of course, that our produce is invariably destined to be inferior, and therefore beaten by the produce of rational breeding, of breeding reduced to a system of algebraical formulae. Yes, formulae which we may laugh, but a system, nevertheless, which furnishes, nineteen out of twenty times, field prize winners, champions on the show bench, celebrities on the turf, and prize winners at the agricultural meetings." Such, then, are Mons. Frechon's views, and he has put them before his countrymen more in the manner of an Englishman than any one else. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."