LECTURES AND ESSAYS EEAD AT INSTITUTES. 357 



farmers, let us strive to raise each succeeding year a fe\v more bushels of corn 

 per acre. By so doing we shall add materially to our wealth and comfort. 



TRUE VALUE OF PURE BRED STOCK. 



BY J. E. TAYLOR. 

 [Read at Greenville Institute.] 



My theme embodies an implication that pure breeds possess some other than 

 a true value, as a fictitious value, represented by fancy prices growing out of a 

 sensational panic to possess some wonderful individual of some wonderful 

 breed, or in deceptive prices, where the breeder sells an animal for $1,000, but 

 (confidential) takes $100 in cash, balance in progeny of this wonderful animal 

 at $100 a piece. Such transactions with intent to deceive are illegitimate, and 

 against every sense of honor, are but the deceit of a jockey, and do not recog- 

 nize value, therefore I recognize but one sort of value in pure breeds, that — 

 true. 



This value, however, may arise from a multiplicity of conditions and cir- 

 cumstances, and is either immediate or remote in the realization thereof, and 

 like all things governed by supply and demand, is more or less fluctuating. 

 But I do not propose in this task to preach upon political economy. I there- 

 fore deal with pure breeds' value per se, regardless of external circumstances. 

 Regarding that true value of pure breeds, is relative, and probably will always 

 remain proportional to other things, about as it is now. 



The true value of an animal depends upon points of historical record, 

 anatomical structure, and physiological peculiarity, and out of a careful 

 harmonizing of these three items, under the skillful management of careful 

 men, comes the *^force of hereditary transmission," known as "prepotency," 

 but for the existence of which a "pure bred" would be worth no more than 

 a " high grade," perchance less. A good grade steer weighing 1,000 pounds, 

 squarely built and well fattened, has a certain market value; a purebred, 

 fac simile of this steer, has the same market value for beef, the ultimate end 

 of all cattle. Then if the pure bred is but the fac simile of the grade, why 

 would he, as a sire, be more valuable than the grade? He has the same 

 anatomical structure, is broad and deep, fine boned, and is pleasing to the 

 touch; he has manifestly the same physiological peculiarities; from a certain 

 amount of a certain kind of food he gains a certain amount per day; just the 

 equal of the grade in every apparent fact and figure; has an historical record 

 running thus: Lord of the Valley (14,837), red, calved August 30, 1856, 

 bred by R. Booth Worlaby; got by Grown Prince (10,087), dam (Red Rose) 

 by Harbinger (10,297) g. d., Medory by Buckingham (3,239), etc. (English 

 Herd -book, Vol. xii, p. 137.) 



So has our grade an historical record. It runs thus: Deceiver (287), 

 white, calved August 30, 1856, bred by Tom Careless, Anywhere; got by 

 Crown Prince (10,087), dam Longlegs (50), g. d. Humpback (5,000), by 

 Scaliwag (10), etc. (Some loosely conducted herd-book. Vol. i, p. 10.) 



You will observe that the names in the first list indicate animals all of high 



53 



