| Popis: |
This chapter explores “native” British breeds within the context of agricultural improvement at the turn of the nineteenth century, arguing that the idea of a native breed arose at the same time and in opposition to that of an “improved” breed. Breeds were understood to encompass the relationship between heredity, anthropogenic selection, and the influence of climate or environment, although which of these factors was understood to take precedence could and did vary. As breeders increasingly selected their animals for early maturity, meatiness, or particular kinds of wool in the case of sheep in conformation with market imperatives, “native” came to signal a type of livestock defined more by its relationship to a particular place within Great Britain than by its degree of breeding. A growing propensity for moving animals from place to place, and combining existing breeds into new types of livestock, such as Shorthorn cattle or New Leicester sheep, informed these developments. |
