No. 6. DBPARTM.ENT OF AGRICULTURE. 421 



Now that we have some idea of the correct type or types, How 

 shall we get them? The first thing is the introddction of pure 

 blood, and a gradual grading up to the ideal. If you doubt the 

 efficiency of this, go into the Pan-handle district of Texas; ten or 

 twelve years ago it would have been difficult to find anything differ- 

 ent from what the packing houses designated as "cutters" and 

 ''canners." But since then Col. Slaughter and others have taken 

 to Texas bulls that cost over |5,000 a piece. He first graded the 

 cows on the ranches to this |o,000 bull, and then the calves are 

 brought back to another |5,000 bull making them three-quarters 

 pure bred. Now, it seems to me that this same rule will apply to 

 Pennsylvania today, grading up and grading up to a higher stan- 

 dard from one generation to another. Now, in order to accomplish 

 this, the first thing to do is for the men who own the mares to 

 pay more when he goes to horses. The man who owns the horse 

 will tell you, and with reason, that he can not afford to pay two 

 thousand dollars for his horse, and then bring him here for a fee 

 of ten dollars, and yet, that is all the average man is willing to pay. 

 Now, it seems to me that that man should be willing to pay more 

 for a better horse. He is getting the benefit of it in the grade of 

 half pure blood that will raise the standard of his horses. I would 

 like to hear this question of the grade thoroughly discussed. You 

 have a law now in force in this state in reference to licensing the 

 stallion. I don't know whether that law is as thoroughly under- 

 stood as it should be. I get a great many letters in reference to 

 it. For instance, I have a letter from a man in one of the North- 

 eastern counties of the State, in which he says, "I have a horse 

 that cost me |2,500; I ask |25 for service; my neighbor has a horse 

 that he did not give anything for, and he asks |4.00 fee. Yet people 

 are more willing to pay the |4.00 fee than to patronize my horse." 

 Now, we are telling this man and that man what a grade horse is, 

 and why we use him, that it is the key to the situation; that by 

 means of it we propose to raise the standard of our horses. If 

 I were to select a sire for my horse, I believe one of the first things 

 I would look to is listed fees, and the first one I would investigate 

 is the one with the highest fee within my means. I do not mean 

 to say that a man is justified in paying a hundred dollar fee, but 

 anything at ten dollars or over. Why, take the ten dollar fee: 

 you are getting tpsuUs that you can multiply by ten times ten dol- 

 lars, and you are getting pretty near reaping a profit on that horse 

 when he Ijecomes a grade. And I believe that you can take every 

 dollar you pay less than ten, and multiply it by ten, and it will 

 represent the loss to you on that horse. 



Now. in regard to this grade, why should we discriminate against 

 him? I will eliminate one class of grade horses. In fact, there 

 is only one kind of grade horse that I would consider: that is the 

 horse that has stood in the community and has demonstrated his 

 ability as a breeder. If he has demonstrated his capacity to get 

 good grade so'js, then I would nor .say anything against him, but 

 there is no guarantee goes with him. Here comes in this principle 

 of variation again. The horse that is only partially of superior 

 blood may reproduce his inferior strain and characteristics in his 

 progeny just as easily as he will the qualities that come to him 



