Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-12-11
GULL THE FLocKs.
nss IS Needed TO Secure Fine FIocs
And Keep 1t Fine.

-seeueo so Secure Fine F1och
And Keep It Fine.
H seems next to impossible TO in
ouce some fiock-masters To enta,
upon the work of heroic cullino
Here IS q man swho has a flock ot
common ewes, and he is induced tn
grade up. He buys a full-blood ram
ana begins the very commendable
work, but when he gets to a certain
point his flock comes to a stand.
still. or what is worse goes hack.
ward Does the reader of wide ex.
perience know no such case as thisa
What is the matter? The man has
the facilities of getting a fine flock
and of keeping it fine. The diffieultv
Is that Notwithstanding he has shown
enterprise enough to purchase !.
good ram. in reality he is lett;nu his
flock run itself He is all rigbt so
far as the male side is concerned
but he is all wrong on the eve side,
Year after year his breeding is hit or
miss. He never pays any attention
to the character of. the ewes that he
breeds from. He does not make his
flock tn, subject of close study
He makes it the subject of no
study at all; and he will never bring his
flock to the best possible perfection
until he begins to Gull and Gull yigor-
ously. Every year he should take a
close inventory as it were, reckon uu
the value of each individual eve as
a breeder. and unless the animal comes
up to the standard-which should be
high-discard her. 1t was in that way
that all our improved breeds have been
made. A good breed can be made in
no other way, and no breed can be kept
up to standard except by pursuing this
course.
There is something peculiar about
some men In relation to such a course
as is here indicated. 1t is a most diff
cult thing to induce many people to
weed out, Gull, thin, or whatever other
term may be applicable in describing a
rejection of a certain portion or class
of their products. Hundreds seem de-
termined not to learn that going
bravely among the budding fruit trees
and vines and destroying portion of
the promise of harvest is very profit
able. Equally as difficult is it to in
duce some to Gull their flocks or herd
They stick to animals that they know
or might know were next to valueless.
Whatever NAV be the cause of this,
the highest financial interests of the
flock master demands a rigid culling.
and that may be intelligentlv done by
close study of the flock. If the eve
is too small, reject her; if she is not
vigorous do not use her for breeding;
if she is faulty in form she should not
be kept; if she is too old do not breed
her. In short, look the individual ami
NAL all over, and keep looking her
over until she is thoroughly known. If
this course is pursued the grading will
go steadily up, until a first-class flock
will be secured and when secured kept
up to standard. We have always adj
vised the use of only such animals for
breeding purposes as have individual
merit. A pedigree that runs back
through the very best strains will not
compensate for lack of individual
merit, for the pedigree may be heavily
discounted by such treatment as has
resulted in deterioration. The animal
may have been abused until it is no
longer vigorous, and that alone may
have continued through several gener-
atoms, thus counteracting in a large
degree the laws of prepotency. The
very first thing to ascertain is whether
or not the animal, male or female. has
in itself the desirable qualities. Then
pedigree is Western Rural.