640 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Following this subject a little further, I would like to make a few 

 remarks about the advantage of pedigree. I have heard of cattle being 

 bought and sold on the reputation of their families, but the only way 

 to buy is to study the animal himself, as well as his ancestry, and not 

 to take him solely on the reputation of his ancestors. There is a 

 chance of inferiority in the eight generations that go to make up his 

 line. The only way you can do is to get that all right, and not to take 

 any chances. Now, you take some of these animals of whose ancestors 

 you are not sure, but who have made a very good success, you know 

 that particular animal, but you do not know his ancestors, and you 

 do not know what inferior characteristics are in him that may yet 

 show themselves. 



I know a man who had a champion bull, and a champion cow, and 

 crossed them, excepting to get a champion calf. Of course, he failed. 

 Old breeders knew he would fail, because the animals were of different 

 types. The man who mixes types, hoping to improve on them is 

 sure to fail in getting an animal of the type he wants. 



To buy on family record is a mistake. The Angus men are the 

 biggest sinners in this respect, depending on the family name to show 

 what an animal can do, and the Shorthorns are a close second. The 

 Hereford men do a little better; they have been improving the indi- 

 vidual for a long time, and they have better cattle. Now, I am not 

 going to say that a cow with a long family record cannot possibly 

 have more influence than any other cow; I think it is possible that 

 down through this female line there may be some qualities trans- 

 mitted, which would not be transmitted through the male line, but 

 unless there is something in the qualities of that "Queen Mother" that 

 shows up it does not matter. There may be a little there, but unless 

 it is sufficient to show itself, it will not count. Now, I have talked 

 to half a hundred Angus breeders about this, and they all admit it is 

 true, but each one wants the other fellow to make the move. There 

 may be a little something in it, but unless it shows itself, it does not 

 amount to anything. It became the fashion at one time to call the 

 family names, and of course, everybody had to follow the fashion. 



Now, I don't know that I want to go any further into this ; you may 

 hear a great deal about mentalism and things of that kind, but the 

 only thing you can depend on is this law of selection. It may take 

 a long time, perhaps, to find a cow, all of whose ancestors are all right, 

 but when you do find one, breed along that line. This is important 

 to the young men just starting out in the breeding business. Instead 

 of buying high-priced animals simply on their family record or name, 

 let him find a cow whose ancestors have proven their value, try her, 

 and when she proves satisfactory, breed along that line, until he has 

 a lot of fine females in his herd which will mate properly with his 

 males of the same type. He can't buy them ; he must breed them, 

 and the longer he breeds them, the more valuable they will become. 

 It takes time, but that should not discourage him. Eventually, he will 

 have the choicest kind of pure bred stock. It takes time, and money 

 and experimenting, but it is the only safe way. 



Most of you know of Jimmy Lease, the Canadian who won the 

 Championship at the International of 1907, and came back last year 

 and won the National Chanj])ionship, with a steer of his own breed 

 and feed. Last Fall he bought a new calf, and he spent a great deal 

 of time around the shows, studying type and quality. He finally 



