Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1910-03-15

!. :. ~. = 81 ii
acten. IN fact. 70 many lateDt cna.-
acters enter IN to affect the on
spring that a good sire cannot be pick
ed by his looks alone. The great
Shorthorn bull Lancaster Comet. one
Of the great early ilnprovers of the
breed. was not particularly OutstaDd-
Ing Individual himself. but he possess
ed the ability OF impressing his latent
characters upon his offspring for many
generations. The standard bred horse
HambletoniaD did not have record.
but be sired more record horses In
the same length Of time than Dan
Patch has. This does not mean that
the selection OF high class sires Is not
important. but It shows that 1t is not
the only point to be considered. These
facts show the great value Of tried
sires. AID animal that has shown bis
ability to sire outstanding offspring
IL worth Eve times as much as young
animal that has not been tried. It 10
4 shortsighted policy to get rid of
male animals before they have shown
what they can do. When a sire of ex-
traOrdinary ability has been found
keep him az long as he is strong and
virile. These same points apply to fe-
males as we'll. though not so strongly.
10 the male Is half the herd. while 1t
takes great many females to make
mp the other half.
. Grading.
> One Of the most important means Of
improving herd is by grading-that
IL, by using the best kind Of q pure
bred sire on the females each year.
The Improvement will be rapid and
marked. The offspring Of pure bred
sire mated with ordinary females will
be one-half pure or even more. since
the pure blood will be more prepotent.
The offspring Of these animals will be
lthree-quarters pure. the next seven
eighths. and so on. 1t takes but
very few years to develop a herd that
are practically pure breds. These high
grade females when mated to pure
bred males will produce practically -
good offspring as could be got from
pure bred females. High grade males
should not be used for sizes, however.
40 they do not have the ability to Inn
press their good qualities upon their
offspring. while the latent scrub quail
ties are bound to crop out.
Crossbrssdins.
Crossbreeding-that is. the crossing
Of pure bred animals Of different
breeds-can often be used 10 advan-
tage IN producing market animals.
The desirable traits Of the two breeds
may be united and q superior type of
market animal produced. The cham
piou fat animals at the International
live stock show are often crossbreds.
When crossbred animals are used for
purposes. however. they rap
idly deteriorate and the strain soon
becomes run out.
The produce Of the crossing Of two
distinct species, such as the horse and
the ass. are called hybrids. Hybrids.
% Il the case with the mule. are often
very useful. Hybridization is Of little
consequence In breeding. however, as
hybrids are unable to reproduce them
selves.
lnbrssdinq and Line Breeding.
lnbreeding means the mating Of
brother and sister. sire and daughter
or son and mother. Close breeding
means the mating of relatives degree
further removed. Inbreeding has been
used to great advantage In developing
the modern breeds Of domestic ami
mails In the hands Of other than .
master breeder, however, inbreeding 3