474 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRIUULTUHK. 



of form, propensity and character. Prepotency of both breed and individ- 

 ual come only from a long line of ancestry in the breeding of the indi- 

 vidual animal. The grade, whether he has one cross or five crosses 

 of pure-blood in his veins, possesses prepotency only in the degree to 

 which he has been bred pure. That prepotency is slight in the five-top 

 cross grade and practically nil in the one that has but one top-cross. 

 For this reason, no matter how attractive may be the form, character, 

 quality and disposition of a grade stallion, he is likely to lack both breed 

 and individual prepotency, hence his progeny will, as a rule, favor the 

 "scrub" side of his ancestry more than the pure-bred sire, seeing that 

 the prepotency of the "scrub"' is the stronger of the two elements. Fur- 

 ther, it should be borne in mind that true grading-up can only be done 

 by means of a pure-bred sire. The offspring of the grade sire with a 

 grade female makes no advance in breeding. The resultant progeny is 

 a grade, no higher and no lower than his parents as regards breeding. 

 Nature sometimes creates what are termed "sports". Such animals 

 often are of phenominal quality and character in one or another respect, 

 but the superior qualities are not due to prepotency of either breed or 

 individual, hence their possessor cannot be depended upon to reproduce 

 them in his progeny. A certain "scrub" or grade stallion may, for 

 example, develop unusual speed and by reason of it gain prizes on the 

 race track, but, if used for breeding purposes, his unique powers for 

 speed are not transmitted to his foals, as they have not descended from 

 a long line of ancestors noted for like speed. He lacks breed and indiv- 

 idual prepotency and. for that reason, should not be used for breeding 

 purposes. Success in the breeding of fast horses comes from the mating 

 of stallions and mares that come from families long noted for the pos- 

 session of speed. Speed is an inherent possession of our trotting breed 

 of horses and has come from selection and line breeding, with that fea- 

 ture in view, until prepotency to produce speed qualifications in the pro- 

 geny has become an inherent characteristic of the breed, as a whole, while 

 certain families and individual animals possess this prepotency to a 

 greater degree than others. In all of our pure breeds of horses breed 

 prepotency is a fixed character to a great or less degree, and, for that 

 reason, pure-bred sires should be used. Grade sires, on the contrary 

 lack both breed and individual prepotency and should, therefore, not be 

 used for breeding purposes. There are exceptions to this rule, as there 

 are to others, but. as a general proposition, the use of grade sires for 

 breeding purposes has been found aetrimental and is not practised in 

 any country that has originated and perfected a breed of pure-bred horses. 

 It should be discontinued in Wisconsin, and not until this is accomplished 

 can we possibly succeed in producing horses of the highest type and 

 quality. 



CROSS-BRED SIHES VXRELI.\BLE AS BREEDERS. 



The offspring of two animals of distinct and different breeds is term- 

 ed "cross-bred". If, for example, a Clydesdale stallion Is mated with 

 a Percheron mare the resultant progeny is necessarily one-half Clydes- 

 dale and one-half Percheron. Two distinct and different breed pre- 

 potencies have been merged together in making this cross and the identity 



