174 Mhsowi Agricultural Report. 



They come into my county, and I advocate that we ought to 

 combine pedigree and individual merit where it can be properly 

 done. Of course, it takes some judgment to do that. The pedi- 

 gree crank lives there in abundance, and if a new man comes in 

 and one of these cranks gets hold of him, he says to him, ''You 

 ought to breed a single strain — the best is straight Bates or straight 

 Cruikshank," and the 'fellow gets so bewildered he doesn't know 

 whether he is in Cooper or some other county. 



The fact of the business is, that there has been some wonder- 

 fully good things done by line breeding or inbreeding, but the 

 amateur cannot do it. He must be a man of some experience and 

 observation, and a good deal of perception to use line breedhig to 

 good advantage, and I would like to second the motion of Mr. 

 Miller that when you start out to breed any kind of live stock you 

 look to individual merit, and if you are not able to combine m.erit 

 and pedigree in a way that will be of strength to you, you had 

 better look simply to the animal and the honesty of the breeder and 

 let pedigree go to the wind. 



The trouble with pedigree is it never did make animals better. 

 The pedigree was never intended to make animals better. It was 

 nothing in the world but simply a speculative craze, and whenever 

 you start a speculative craze on anything in the live stock business 

 you can sure guess what the result will be. If a fellow is fool 

 enough, I must say there are always some others who will work 

 him. (Applause.) 



Now, I have often thought of this thing at home, and from 

 what I have heard I think it is a kind of a pet idea of some that 

 wealth never stays in one family many generations. It seems 

 strange that we harp on a family or on individuals that lived fifty 

 years ago. I say families of cattle are valuable today for the 

 merit they possess today, not for the merit they possessed fifty 

 years ago. That is the standard of value in cattle. I admit I am 

 very much interested in this subject. I had a good many thoughts 

 when I was in my seat upon the subject, but it seems when I get 

 up here my thoughts take a seat, and as they do not come in a 

 regular way, I think I had better give it up. I thank you for your 

 attention. (Applause.) 



The Chairman: We will now hear from Mr. Halderman of 

 Springfield on this subject. 



Mr. Halderman : I want to second a good many things thnt 

 have been said here. I think we are now striking the right line 



