The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1916-08-12
SELECT HEAD OF HERD
WITH GREAT CARE.
's''ty o. Blood Very Desirable, But
Not An Absolute Guaranty Of
Excellence.

mo- enough attention 10 given to the
so'ection OF the head OF the herd.
Wnsther Il be a herd Of cattle. hogs or
othsr farm animals. The fact that In
character OF the next generation OF
i've stock. and, soon. that of the On.
tire breeding herd, will be determined
oy the sire that Ia being used. should
10 kept constanuy In mind The sire
eAerts an influence on the herd equal
70 that OF all the females combined
and for this reason, much more care
ana study must be given to both his
INDIVIDUAL makeup and ancestry than
10 necessary in case OF any female
member OF the herd
The pedigree OF the male must he
stuoied, not so much for the purpo,e
81 nndins therein the names OF IA
nous ancestors which have been
snow animals. as to form an estimate
~ to the probabilities of the male in
question being able to transmit the
essential qualities OF utility. The i'm.
mediate parents exert by far the great
est inausnoe on the makeup and
breeding qualities OF an individual n
eNAsY parent Is not strong and vixor-
sus, or Il each Of these parents have
not already produced other animals Of
exceptional merit, 1t is not considered
good business to pay very large price
Tor one Of their offspring. Unless the
parents have proved their ability To
produce excellence in q large NUMBER
OF their offspring the chances are that
the animal In question will prove a
great disappointment All Of the
combined exert an influ.
ense about equal to one Immediate
parent and that should be taken into
account. The influence Of any rivsu
ancestor back OF the grandparents ia (
% SINAI as to be practically a nesli-
yible quantity.
After care has been exercised in the
rejection OF the sire, both for iudi- {
'idual excellence and good ancestry. Ii
he real trial comes when the actual |
breeding qualities OF the male are .
ested out by mating him to a few fe
males which have proved their merit
% breeders. II his offspring with
hsse females fail to show exoeptional .
merit. then he should be discarded at
nee and another young male tried out c
the same way until q satisfactory II
ne Is found. Successful breeders are Il
ways trying out young males for the {,
urDose Of having something reliable
reserve. Tho failure to take this =.
recaution has been the undoing Of !
'aay excellent herds. Certainly nst "
lore than one In four OF the most
Offspring Of excsptisual "
Arents, backed up by the best of IN. "
'stry, ever really added anything to O.
10 excellence Of the breed. The Sc al
ction. then. by pedigree and individ- "
Atty, simply increases the chances
getting a satisfactory herd sire to 4,
TOUT one in four. The wise and sue =,
ssful breeder IL not willing to take !,
10 risk. but prepares beforehand un.
he Is absolutely sure OF his ground =,
Not 80 much attention need be paid q
the selection OF the herd sire in
% whore tho stock IL kept for utiI-
alone. 40 In case Of man raising Be
- for market. but In this case also
10 Of first Importance that the hero 81
q comes Of good parents and that -,
fs strong and vigorous in every
y. Purity OF blood IL no absolute
aranty Of excellence. The chances
, that the pure-bred sire will be
10 to transmit the desired qualities ss,
IN much more certainty than in '
V Of the animal with a mixed an.
TRY, but vitality and prolincacy
} the all-important and far-reaching
tors to be considered. I
r. L. Jordan,
Louisiana State University.