344 ANNUAL, REFORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



him so, so told Mm he had better write to the Department, and he 

 was advised that he had paid a full bred price for grade mares. It 

 happened that those mares were eligible to registration in an author- 

 ized Association, but not every man is so fortunate. 



The only way to correct things of this kind is to get your horses 

 registered in an Association that is recognized by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, and secure from it a certificate bearing 

 its seal, and signed by its oflficers. Then there can be no question 

 of its reliability. 



Now, as to what constitutes pure breeding. That has become 

 largely a question settled by the Association to which it belongs. 

 Take the Percheron Association; they require certain things, and 

 the animal must fulfill these requirements before he is considered 

 pure bred. The French Draught Association does not require so 

 much. They take four top covers; or, take our Standard bred horses. 

 A horse may become Standard and registered without any breeding 

 whatever, simply by fulfilling the requirements of a pure bred horse 

 as to type and class. Then a horse can get into the Morgan Registry 

 better than he can into the Standard, even. They have taken them 

 in at l-64th — generations removed from old Justin. You take Red 

 Cloud, of Kentucky; he is registered in the Morgan Saddle Horse 

 Association, and every filly this horse ever foaled is eligible to regis- 

 try in the Association. So it seems to follow that it is not so much 

 whether a horse is really pure bred as whether he conforms to the 

 standard of the Association that constitutes pure breeding, and 

 makes him eligible to a pure bred certificate. 



Now, the conclusion that I want to draw from this discussion is 

 simply this: That most of these men who are dilatory and neglect- 

 ful in keeping up these records are so from carelessness more than 

 anything else. The average farmers' hand seems to fit the plow 

 handle and the corn knife better than the pen; he hates to write, 

 and so puts it off; or perhaps he has been working hard in the field 

 all day, and is tired when night comes, and so puts it off until he 

 has more time; he knows his stock by their ear marks, and that is 

 all that is necessary for him until he comes to sell; then he must 

 be able to give a clear title if he wants to get any price, or if he is 

 buying, he wants to know what is behind the animal he is buying, 

 so that he may know what effect it will have on his stock. This is 

 what makes pedigree registration important. Only by proper regis- 

 tration can a man hope to realize on his stock what it is worth, and 

 that is worth the time and labor spent on keeping these records. I 

 thank you. 



REPORT OF VETERINARIAN. 



By DR. LEONARD PEARSON, State Veterinarian. 



As Veterinarian to the State Board of Agriculture, there are a 

 good many things I might report on, and I believe I could report on 

 several subjects that would be of interest to you, but the subject 

 that has been uppermost in the minds of the Veterinary Staff is 

 the Foot and Mouth Disease, a.nd that is a subject that is no doubt 



