Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-11-16
JUDGING BY POINTS.
From the American Cultivator.


editor of the American Cultivator {:
Being somewhat surprised at the result of
the application of the scale of points in
Judging trotting stock stations, by
Messrs. Busbey and Coleman at the late
New England fair, determined at my
earliest leisure to look into the matter
more carefully. The surprising results
were that such horses as Naaman, Abso-
lutte, Solicitor and L'Empereur, of whose
merits this award will be to most breeders
the first notice, should be found entitled
to premiums in the order named, while
Ben Franklin, justly famous as the great
est sire of colt stake winners in New
England, should be held worthy of only
such mention as amounts to 'damning
with faint praise
1.-The full table of points does not
appear in Mr.. Busbeys report in the
1 Cultivator, but assuming that the state
ment in the Maine Farmer, that perfor-
nance and character of offspring were
rated at 80 points each, is correct, the
scale used stands as follows for perfec-
ton: Head 4, eyes and ear f. neck G.,
shoulders and forearm 8, barrel, coup
lings and Group 10, hips, quarters, stiles
and gaskins y, hooks, knees, legs and
pasterns II, feet 10, color 6, size 10,
symmetry and style s, action without
speed s, pedigree so, performance 80,
character of offspring 60; total, $50.
1t is evident at glance that this scale
can be applied with fairness (if at alp
only to horses of practically the same
age. Great expectations are rarely rea-
lized, and vet, as to quality as sire,
that is all there is of "A four-year-old, and
the same is practically true for number
of years later, especially in New England.
where the conditions are unfavorable to
early maturity. But what is the value
of stallion. as stallion, save in the
character of his offspring? Grant him
the speed of Maud S., the endurance of
Steve Maxwell, the strength of Pilot, the
symmetry and style of Mambrino King,
the perfect action of Ethan Allen, and if
none of these characteristics reappear in
his issue, you cannot give away his SER
vices as a sire.
On the other hand, turn to the rough
old broken-legged teaser for a jack at
Rushville, with worse than no pedigree
as far as then known, with the name of
Blue Bull hanged like milestone about
his neck, and you have seen character of
offspring alone carry a sire to the very
browning height of deserved popularity.
What then is the value of scale of
points that gives to this almost exclusive
merit of a stallion (the power to beget
meritorious otispring) rank of only
twenty per cent. among other qualities?
Under it any one of a thousand paper
made youngsters whose owners are
equally delighted by their pedigrees and
Mortified by their get, out-ranks the great
Blue Bull five to one.
And in the present instance, one is
amazed to find that this astute committee.
aided by this interesting scale of points,
managed TO make the first three of their
four awards to young stations, six, five
and four years old respectively, neither
of which has record himself or off
spring whose character appears in the
computation; in other words, to sres
marked zero both as to performance and
as to the quality of their get.
Ridiculous as is the scale, the manner
of its application was more so. 1t is not a
little strange that among the fourteen
animals exhibited, comprising some of
the very best trotting stock horses in
New England, not one should have been
found to mark over l23 out of IA possible
$50 points; that is, according to the COM
mittee, the best was not half as good as
he ought to have been. Not that it could
be contended that Naaman should have
had higher mark, but the wonder is how
such horse as Ben Franklin could have
been marked below him. The committee