The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1909-05-28
BREEDING LIVE STOCK.

his work, and for the animals with
which he is working, no matter what
class of live stock it may be. It Is
a sad fact that the breeding Of live
stock on the average farm has not
been given the attention which its
Importance demands.
To be a successful breeder ono must
thoroughly understand and be familiar
with the pedigree of his animals.
The pedigree, however, is nothing
more or less than the record of the
ancestry of an animal for a longer or
a shorter period of time. It's object
Is to enable the breeder to trace the
lineage of his animals, or is some
instances with the standardized
horse and the dairy COW, to trace
/ the performances OF the ancestry, and
in all instances to furnish guaran-
tee of purity of blood.
A pedigree in itself, however, Is
not a guarantee of the purity of blood.
The value of a pedigree depends large
ly on its being authentic. genuine
and on the excellence of the indiyid-
uals in the ancestry. more especially
those that are near, rather than
those that are remote. It should be
remembered that if pedigree is not
authentic, its value is lessened in
proportion; if it is not genuine it has
no value at all; and it is wrong idea
to trace back twelve. fifteen or twenty
generations in order to find some not
ed animal. The general excellence in
the near ancestors in their pedigree
is far more important than the length
of pedigree in. the absence OF such
excellence. although a great many
high-priced animals have been bought
wholly on the strength of their pedi-
gree ana not upon their Individual
merits.
If a pedigree be full of noted ami
mails whose individual merit is known
to have been the very best, then 1t
is SO much the better.
But many man has paid a long
price for a pedigree and with it has
taken very inferior animal.
1t is fact not to be disputed that
good blood will tell. and it is equally
sure that bad blood will crop out.
And now word regarding the Sc
lection and breeding.
If one is starting herd, he should
select his females with the greatest
care and endeavcr to get them as uni
form as possible. Then select the male
with the idea OF correcting any gen.
eral defect which may be shown IN
the herd as a whole.
It should be borne in mind, how
ever, that the end of all our herds
CT stock, except the horse, is the
butchers block; th-t we. in sense,
must cater to their terms; that we
must look to them as an outlet for
our surplus stock; and if we expect
to obtain the highest market price,
we must produce the class of ami
mails they desire. This may be said
of the breeder, pure-bred as well as
of the grade breeder. for the farmer
is only producing animals that are to
be sold to the farmer to produce ami
mails to go to the market. Therefore
1t becomes the duty OF every bred
er of pure-bred stock to try to educate
those about him and place in their
hands the types of animals that are
most desirable for the present market
demands. The breeding CT live stock
may be defined as the science or art
which treats of the reproduction and
improvement of all our domestic ami
mails.
It is science in so far as it dis
covers and Systematically arranges
the principles which relate to the
Improvement Of live stock 1t is an
art in SO far as it successfully uses
these principles in effective improve
ment.
Some knowledge Of the principles
which govern the successful breeding
of live stock has been possessed from
the very earliest periods. but not un-
til within the past two or three GEN.
turtles has there been any great ad-
vancement made in scientific breed
ing or improvement.
Successful breeders have studied
the principles and laws which govern
end control, and although there have
been many theories advanced. and al
most the equally large number ex-
ploded. there have been many princi-
pies proven bevond a doubt and the
present generation of live stock
breeders can do far better and more
scientific work toward the i'm
provement of their herds and fiocks
than their fcrefathers were able to
accomp'ish.-W. H. Underwood. in
the Indiana Farmer
FARM NOTES