Live Stock Breeders' Association. 231 



of practical utility, as put by the old Quaker at Siterton, became 

 absolutely the thing of all things to be desired in this country, and 

 in England as well. And though we had adopted this standard 

 before it was adopted in England, today it is the blood of this herd 

 which is supreme over all the world. 



The question is, what is the duty of the Shorthorn breeder of 

 today ? We are using this Scotch blood because there is no purity 

 in any Scotch blood except as it came from Siterton. Mr. Cruik- 

 shank was the man who established the separate and distinct type 

 for what we call Shorthorns. We must not follow the examples of 

 Mr. Bates or Mr. Booth in continuing to inbreed and to line- 

 breed, but we must use fresh blood, in order to preserve the scale, 

 size and fertility of our cattle. And there is another reason why 

 we must do that. I dislike, when I attend a Shorthorn sale, to 

 hear it said that an animal is "pure Scotch," when, perhaps, it 

 traces back to the herds of Mr. Rennicke or Mr. Warfield or Mr. 

 Ellis, because those gentlemen purchased the very best cattle to ba 

 found in England at that time, and the descendants of those herds 

 compose nine-tenths of the cattle in this country of this breed. I 

 dislike to see their value absolutely destroyed and men breaking 

 their necks, and their bank accounts as well, in an effort to buy 

 what they call "absolutely straight Scotch." I have seen cases 

 where absolutely inferior individuals reputed as "pure Scotch" 

 commanded higher prices than superior individuals not so reputed. 



But I believe in pedigree. I believe it is the only possible 

 means we can depend on in the production of good qualities, I be- 

 lieve like produces like ; but we must not be slaves to pedigree. We 

 must not carry it so far that it absolutely destroys the whole pur- 

 pose and aim of pedigree, which is improvement all the time. When 

 an animal is inbred, or by some means becomes inferior, it is the 

 most dangerous thing in the world to our herds, because its in- 

 ferior qualities have just as much prepotency as its superior quali- 

 ties, and we are as sure to propagate the inferior qualities as the 

 superior qualities it may possess. 



I remember reading a few years ago an article written by 

 Mr. Maynard himself. He said the whole art of breeding lies in 

 studying the fitness of certain individuals for interbreeding with 

 other individuals; in other words, that the key to success lies in 

 being able to arrive at a correct conclusion as to how certain ani- 

 mals will nick with each other ; what will be the result of breeding a 

 bull of one shape to a cow of another shape. You can not select an 

 animal with ojie marked superior point and expect it to be repro- 



