1906.] DISCUSSION. 175 



sey thoroughbred sires, and yet he says that only two out of 

 five of the offspring have shown improvement over their dams. 

 Now either the theory is wrong, or else the theory and the 

 practice do not agree. 



Prof. Shaw. Now just wait a moment. On what lines 

 were those sires chosen? That is an important question. 



Mr. Phelps. I think that now we are getting to the heart 

 of the matter. I think in five generations the average man will 

 not produce a herd of graded stock that will be anywhere near 

 equal to a herd of thoroughbreds, that the same man might 

 probably produce, and I think it is owing to this reason. If he 

 pays good money for a few thoroughbred females, he will be 

 very ready to go out and pay a good, big sum of money for a 

 sire to mate with such females. The average farmer has a 

 herd of graded cattle which he knows to be worth from forty 

 to fifty dollars, and he is not apt to use that care, and that fore- 

 thought, and the amount of cash necessary, to get the kind of 

 sire he ought to have. On the other hand, if he does not hesi- 

 tate to pay for and use the right kind of a sire to mate with his 

 grades, the result is much different. That, sometimes, is the 

 reason why a man using thoroughbreds on both sides " gets 

 there " faster than the man working with thoroughbreds on 

 one side only. 



Prof. Shaw. I did not say that he won't get there faster. 

 I only say that what I have indicated is what the other man 

 could do. 



Mr. Phelps. But I do not believe that five per cent, of 

 the farmers of Connecticut will do it. 



Prof. Shaw. I have shown you that it can be done in 

 three generations. 



Mr. Stadtmueller. I am sorry that the gentleman who 

 has been referred to has been obliged to leave the hall, because 

 I believe he is a very good exponent of the very doctrine that 

 Prof. Shaw has been promulgating this afternoon. He has 

 been working upon the same identical theory. He has bred his 



