GRAPHIC SCORE CARDS. 27 



ers at present need 1(> uive most attention, are given the largest nnni- 

 ber of points. Tlic great need is of varieties wliieh will yield heavier 

 crops per acre. With the foundation varieties employed in breeding 

 wheat, quality of the grain is much more easily secured in the mid- 

 dle Northwest than are profitable yields. The pi-oduct per acre is not 

 half that obtained on the old lands of England, Germany, and France. 

 Therefore, for the present, at least, larger weight should be given in 

 the card to yield than to other qualities. 



The factors which should figure in the construction of a score card 

 for any particular line of comparison are usually numerous, much 

 more than is ordinarily appreciated l)y tlie framer of score cards for 

 comparing breeding animals. And a percentage score card but 

 crudely expresses the main truths sought. 



GRAPHIC SCORE CARDS. 



Graphic schemes for displaying important characteristics may some- 

 times be used to bring before the mind in a compact and simplified 

 form the numerous factors entering into a comparison for the choice 

 of a variety, a strain, or a j^lant for a particulai' jourpose, or for a com- 

 bination of uses. This is especially ti'ue in the case of choosing two 

 varieties to be mated in the j)roduction of new strains or varieties. 

 Here the difficulty is more than doubled, and some scheme is needed 

 wliich will place the princij)al elements in juxtajDosition where the 

 eye and mind can easily see their relations. Graphic score cards 

 could be made up in manj^ ways and for many purposes. The fact 

 that the size limits the number of points which can be displayed is oh 

 the whole an advantage, since the essential characteristics will thus 

 be made to stand out more prominently, there being no room for the 

 unimportant. Whatever form it ma}^ take, the scientific study of the 

 score cards and their use in breeding will be found useful and inter- 

 esting. Such stud}' will aid the animal breeder to have a better con- 

 ception of an ideal, and a better eye for discerning the specific points 

 and the general value of the animal. 



The percentage score card outlined above is reduced to a graphic 

 form in figure 12 by dividing the cliail into sections, giving to the 

 respective characteristics spaces proportionate to those listed in the 

 percentage score card. Then in these portions or divisions the several 

 characteristics of all the varieties of wlieat compared are graphically 

 displa^'ed. 'IMus "graphic" language, if once mastered, convej's the 

 ideas in a much more clear and conipr(»liensive manner than would 

 meiv words and figuriis. 



Figure \'2 sliows gi-aphically several ol" the leading characteristics of 

 eight newly oi'iginated Avheats, and, on the right side, three old wheats. 

 Oflhi^se lattei;, Minnesota No. 51, Ilayne's IMnc Stem, is llie parent 

 of tiie best new wheat sliown — Minnesota No. 109; and Minnesota 

 N<». <■((;, P()wei''s Fife, is tlu^ parent of Minnesota No. 141). 



The hori/ontal liiu's re])i'esent yields, grades, etc., of the respective 



