The St. Mary banner., 1909-08-07
BREEDING LIVE STOCK.

Wnlcl ne Is working, no Aldtlei "Aot
class of live stock it may be. 1t Is
a sad fact that the breeding OF 1--we
stock on the average farm has nor
been given the attention which Its
importance demands.
To be a successful breeder one 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 CT the ancestry. an
in all instances to furnish a guaran-
tee of purity of blood.
A pedigree in itself. however, is
not guarantee of the purity OF blood.
The value of pedigree depends large
ly on its being authentic. genuine
and on the excellence of the individ-
uals in the ancestry, more especially
these that are near, rather than
those that are remote. 1t 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 il
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 and not upon their individual
merits.
If pedigree be full of noted ami
mails whose individual merit is known
to have been the very best, then it
is SO much the better.
But many a man has paid a long
price for pedigree and with it has
taken a very inferior animal
1t is a fact not to be disputed that
good blood will tell. and it is equally
sure that bad blood will crop out.
And now a word regarding the Sc
lection and breeding
If one is starting a herd he should
select his females with the greatest
care and endeavor 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.
1t should be borne in mind, how
ever, that the end of all our herds
of stock. except the horse, is the
butchers block; th2t we, in a 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 we'll 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 of live stock
may be defined as the science or art
which treats of the reproduction and
improvement of all our domestic AMI
mails
1t is science in so far as it dis
covers and Systematically arranges
the principles which relate to the
Improvement of live stock. It 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.
turies has there been any great ad- |
vancement made in scientific breed |
ing or improvement
Successful breeders have studied |
the principles and laws which govern
and 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 beyond a doubt and the
present generation of live stock
breeders can do far better and more
scientific work toward the i'm
prpvement of their herds and flocks
than their forefathers were able to
a.ccomplish.-W. H. Underwood, in
the Indiana Farmer.