Miscellaneous Papers. 268 



HEREDITY IN STOCK BREEDING. 



I'y 1. D. GuAHA^r, Topeka, Kan. 



^/f Y purpose in this paper is not to call attention to any 

 ^^ fact that is new to science, nor to any new discoveries 

 along scientific lines. The aim is rather to direct brief atten- 

 tion to the practical application in a commercial way of cer- 

 tain well-established scientific laws. The scientist is too 

 often credited with being a dreamer and his work is fre- 

 quently looked down upon by his fellow man who delights to 

 style himself "practical." In spite of the attitude assumed by 

 the self-styled "practical man," the fact remains that a vast 

 deal of the material prosperity to which he has attained is 

 due directly to the previous w^ork done by the scientist in 

 his studv of nature's laws. 



None has been better established among the laws of nature 

 than that "like produces like." Nothing is better established 

 than the added fact that the law of variation is just as well 

 founded. In applying these laws to his own purposes, the 

 breeder of pure-bred live stock has done so, not because of 

 the value which his work might prove to science, but because 

 he saw the only means by which he could attain the object of 

 his labors and supply the demands of his market. 



With the emergence of our race from barbarism began the 

 taming and the ultimate improvement of the wild animals of 

 forest and plain. With his increase in intelligence and his 

 daily handling of the animals which he had tamed to his own 

 uses, earlier man came to notice that certain types were 

 more valuable to him for certain purposes, and that the mat- 

 ing of animals of similar type increased or strengthened these 

 valuable points in the progeny. Of course, it is understood 

 that these facts only came to be realized after ages of handling 

 the animals. The development of knowledge along this line 

 was gradual, but it was found to be real knowledge and to 

 have a financial value. Upon this, and accompanied by the 

 increased demands of our civilization, has grown up the busi- 

 ness of stock breeding which is now one of our largest in- 

 dustries and which rests for its success upon the knowledge 

 and practical application of the laws before mentioned. 



The oldest breed of pure-bred live stock, the Shorthorn 

 cattle, which is so important in the commercial life of to-day, 



