The Bulletin. 83 



likely be made if we did more breeding and less buying of animals. Other people 

 are niai<ing money in raising animals to sell to us, and why not produce more of 

 them ourselves? 



BREED TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT. 



If we appreciate these advantages to the extent of undertaking to bring thera 

 about, we slioiihl attempt to make ti)e most of it. Since the cliaractors of growing 

 animals are hugely determined by inlieritnnce, feed and care, it belioovcs us to 

 give some tlmuglit to the selection and Ijrecding of animals possessing desirable 

 types and qualities. 



"grading up" the scrubs. 



For most of u? the profit will not be in the raising of pure-bred live stock nor 

 in the rai.sing of scrubs, but will lie in the grading »ip of our animals. This 

 consists in tiio using of pure-incd sires upon native scrub females. The offspring 

 of such mating would be ono-half blood of the breed of the sire. The next mating 

 would then be between the female oll'spring of the first mating and that of a sire 

 of the same breed as used before. This would yield ollVpring of thrcc-ciuarters 

 blood. Continuing this process till the fiftii generation, the oirspring would 

 contain thirty-one thirty-seconds of pure blood. Animals so bred for several 

 generations are called high grades, and while they arc usually just as good indi- 

 viduals as if pure bred, the males should not be used for breeding purposes. 



USE PURE-BRED SIRES. 



The reason for not using a grade, even a high grade, sire lies in the fact that 

 the longer a strain of animals has been bred for definite characteristics the more 

 certainty of animals of that strain transmitting, by laws of inheritance, those 

 characteristics. On the other hand, the shorter the time of fi.xing those character- 

 istics, as in grades, the less likelihood of transmitting them. 



SELECTION OF SIRE. 



The sire should be selected largely with the view of fulfilling two requirements. 

 First, he should be a good individvial himself, a representative of the type desired. 

 Second, he should come from a long line of meritorious ancestors — a pure bred. 

 If the females on hand are somewhat undersize and it is desired to increase the 

 size, as it should be in most oases, better results will usually be obtained by 

 increasing gradually, therefore the extremes in size of male and female should not 

 be too great, yet the usual fault to find is in the use of too small a sire. 



THE KIND OF ANIMAL, THE TYPE AND THE BREED TO RAISE. 



There are several factors to be considered in determining what kind of animals — 

 horses, cattle, sheep or swine — to raise, what type to select and what breed to 

 choose. Unless breeding animals for our own use, necessarily one of the impor- 

 tant factors will be tliat of market demand. A second factor concerns the condi- 

 tions on the farm at the present, or possible changes, with reference to suitable 

 buildings, the character of crops, the convenience to market, help, etc. Again, a 

 third factor may be the fancy of the farmer in being partial to some breeds more 

 than to others, and he is likely to make greater success in the raising of those he 

 favors. 



HORSES AND MULES. 



With the prevailing high prices for horses and mules there are few mares that 

 should not be bred to a good horse or jack, selected as indicated above. While 

 on most farms there is still a place for some of the smaller-sized work animals, 

 we should consider well the advisability of increasing the size by the use of the 

 special breeds of diaft type. Mules are not included in our appended classification 

 of animals, and yet because of tlieir utility in Southern farming they sliould 

 receive a just share of consideration. IMorc of our larger mares should be bred 

 to good -sized jacks to produce some of the extremely high-priced mules that are at 

 a premium at present. 



