24 PLANT BREEDING. 



became the progenitor of a great race of heavy butter- jwxlucing cows, 

 a purelj^ feminine characteristic, whicli he conkl only 1 ransmit from 

 his fonale j^arents to his female progen3^ 



RECORDS AND SCORE CARDS. 



The careful plant breeder must have systematic methods of testing 

 and recording the qualities of individual plants, so as to secure supe- 

 rior mother plants. Of even greater importance is a system for test- 

 ing and recording the power of mother plants, i. e., their ability to 

 produce progeny with high average yield, and other desirable charac- 

 teristics. A good system of records should be adapted to the careful 

 selection of the best introduced varieties; of superior individual 

 plants within the variety; of parents producing superior young; and 

 of resulting strains which, in numerous field trials under the prevail- 

 ing conditions, prove to be the most jDrofitable to the farmer or other 

 grower and the most useful to the ultimate consumer. 



The breeder must have a clear idea of the qualities he wishes to 

 secure. The plant must be studied throughout all its stages of growth, 

 cultivation, and preservation, and new as well as common uses must 

 be understood. The weak as well as the strong points of available 

 parent varieties must be known. Once the ideal is formed, it should 

 be firml}^ adhered to, only lowered or raised where new knowledge 

 emphatically demands or when previous improvements permit. That 

 the breeder may secure that combination which represents the large 

 general and ultimate value, he must clearh- perceive the relative value 

 of the various good characters. 



The score card has its dangers, but is, on the whole, a.most useful 

 device for keeping records. When applied to perpetuate mere fancy 

 points, as in modern judging of egg and meat-producing breeds of 

 Ijoultry, by applying to them only measures dealing with the qualities 

 of the plumage, wattles, leg scales, and other fancy points, it is worse 

 than useless — an obstacle in the path of progress. Its misuse in 

 animal breeding has usually arisen from the faulty make-up of the 

 score card, especiallj^ for those classes of animals produced for their 

 flesh. Some valuable qualities have been given too small a weight in 

 the scale of points, as size in the American trotter, or left out alto- 

 gether, while other nonessential characteristics have often had 

 entirel}^ too much prominence given them. Not only has the con- 

 struction of the score card been dangerously at fault, but the breeder 

 or judge using it has often failed from not having a just conception 

 of the relative importance of the several points enumerated in the 

 score card. Records of performance and of qualities which can be 

 tabulated and averaged are of the greatest value in the score card or 

 in pedigree records of plant or animal varieties or breeds. They are 

 measures of breeding power made up of the average records of the 

 individual merit of the progeny. 



lUit these weightier factors must ncit be too closelv adhered to. 



