The Bulletin. 65 



Because the sire is the source or fountainhead of the herd, or the founda- 

 tion upon which it is built; just as no good structure can be erected without 

 a firm foundation, neither can a good herd be established without a good 

 sire at its head. Just as the grain grower selects the best seed for planting, 

 realizing that the best crops are made when the best available seed is sown, 

 so should the breeder select the best available sire for his herd. 



We all are quite familiar with the fact that the weak, bad points of both 

 plants and animals seem to be more easily established in the young than 

 the strong characteristics. There seems to be a natural tendency to retrogres- 

 sion, or a cropping-out of the bad points in animals ; and these are the things 

 which we desire to guard against. "Like begets like" is a law of nature. We 

 expect the offspring to be like the parent. This being the case, a poor, lean, 

 long, lank, ill-shaped animal, possessing a mean, snarly disposition, will im- 

 part these same characteristics to his offspring. 



In the same ratio that this is true of the poor animal, which does not 

 adhere to any particular type, so is it true of the good, well-bred animal, 

 adhering closely to a fixed type and possessing the characteristics of this 

 breed. How often you hear your neighbor say, "Johnny Jones should be a 

 big, strong, fine-looking fellow, for his father before him was one of the 

 best-looking men in the town." The same is true of animals. 



Since this is a fact, let us think for a moment as to the sire we select for 

 our foundation. What sort of sire did this animal have? How long has 

 his family been known? How many brothers and sisters has he, and what 

 kind of animals are they? Was his dam a good individual — was she a good 

 mother? If of a class of animals that bring forth young in twos or in litter, 

 has he a twin brother, or litter brothers? If so, how many? What per- 

 centage are good individuals, and what records have they? 



Now, these may seem at first to be of little value, but without them upon 

 what can you base your estimates of future success as a breeder? 



If you wish to build a barn, surely you would use some material of known 

 durability in order to estimate the value and strength as well as the beauty 

 of your building. Who would think of constructing a barn of salmon brick 

 and covering it with ordinary building paper? And why not? Because these 

 materials have bad records. They do not possess the characteristics which are 

 found in good building materials. 



Certainly you cannot afford to take the time, say nothing of the necessary 

 cost, to prove his ability by breeding the animal yourself; and it is entirely 

 unnecessary, when other breeders have determined this for you, and you simply 

 avail yourself of the results of their investigations. 



So, in selecting a head for your herd, the record must be closely examined, 

 not only of this animal, but also the record of his sire and dam for genera- 

 tions. If he is an animal of good type, possessing the characteristics peculiar 

 to this breed, and has well-established blood lines, you can feel pretty well 

 assured that he will transmit these characteristics to his offspring. 



Knowing, as we do, that we cannot expect the young to be better individuals 

 than the sire, it becomes absolutely necessary to consider very carefully the 

 selection of the head of your herd. If we wish the young animal to be 

 well developed, strong, healthy and true to the breed, we must select with 

 impunity the male that is to sire them. Why so particularly the male? Be- 

 cause he represents exactly one-half of the foundation of the herd. 



From an economical or business standpoint, it is much cheaper to purchase 

 and maintain one good animal that represents so much blood of the herd and 

 has such a marked power or influence upon such a large number of animals. 



In raising animals of any kind our object should be to produce as many as 

 possible of the same general well-fixed characteristics; uniformity of size, style, 

 conformation, general qualities and color markings. The nearer a lot of 

 animals conform to the same ideal the higher price they will command. 

 All of us have seen, at some time or another, cattle sold to a dealer who paid 

 a quarter of a cent more for one lot of steers that ran even in size, style, 

 general appearance and color, than was paid for another lot of steers that 

 were equally as good individuals, yet not so uniform in size and style and 



October — 5 



