112 



The Journal of Heredity 



tion of the infonnation thc}- ga\-c b\' 

 means of linc-brccding have been the 

 chief instruments of the scientific 

 breeder. 



FIXINC; THH STANDARDS. 



It will be oln-ious from this that 

 nothing is more important than to have 

 a satisfactory fixed type. If our 

 standard is wrong, then increase in 

 skill in breeding, improvement of the 

 technique, is of little value. The 

 genetist's ability to use the laws of 

 heredity will be of little avail, unless 

 the standard toward which he is breed- 

 ing is as good as science can define. 

 Dr. Wilsdorf therefore emi)hasizes the 

 great advance that has been made in 

 this direction in Germany as in most 

 other parts of the world during recent 

 decades. It was not long ago, he points 

 out, that breeding was merely a matter 

 of mating two animals, without much 

 regard either to their pedigrees or to 

 their iierformances. Now it is recog- 

 nized that these two factors must go 

 together, each supplementing and inter- 

 preting the other; and the development 

 of performance tests has therefore 

 become a part of the breeder's work 

 not only important but absolutely 

 necessary. In horse breeding, the race 

 track justifies itself largely on this 

 ground; horse shows do, too, when the 

 l^ractical element is not wholly sub- 

 merged by the si)orting element; while 

 endurance tests and work tests for the 

 heavier horses are now being develoi^cd, 

 particularly at the national stock farm 

 of Warendorf , where the annual " Waren- 

 dorf Week" draws draft animals from 

 many regions, to be sulnnitted to tests 

 of hauling cars loaded with sand, that 

 will gi\-e any comjjetent judge a good 

 idea of what kind of a constitution they 

 have inherited and are Hkely to jjass on 

 to their olTspring. 



Cattle breeders took vip the idea of 

 performance tests far later than horsc- 

 mc^n did, for in earlier times cattle were 

 largely valued as draft animals, and 

 milk jjroduetion was an insignificant 

 side is.sue. During the last century, 

 however, the develoinnent of the milk- 

 ing function, through conscious or 

 unconscious performance tests and se- 



lection of the best jjroducers for breed- 

 ing, gave marvelous results. The 

 a\'erage yield of German cows at 

 (liff'ercnt periods is stated by the 

 author in the following table: 



1790 34 quart 



1800 IK quart 



1810 2 quarts 



1820 3 quarts 



1830 4 quarts 



This quantity was maintained for 

 three decades. Then, with the collapse 

 of sheep breeding in Germany, dairy 

 cattle again received an unusual amount 

 of attention, with the result that the 

 figures were increased to: 



1 860 6 quarts 



IcSTO 8 quarts 



From this point on, the physiological 

 limit began to appear in sight, and the 

 increase was necessarily slower. But 

 the nearer the physiological limit came, 

 the more careful were breeders to test 

 and select only the finest milk-yielding 

 strains, with the result that at the 

 beginning of the twentieth century, 

 Dr. Wilsdorf thinks the average daily 

 milk production of German cows may 

 be placed at 10 quarts. In one century, 

 their yield was increased more than 

 1000 per cent, by intelligent breeding — 

 certainh' as good an example as one 

 could ask of the practical \'alue of 

 genetics. 



FORM vs. REAL VALUE. 



Production tests for beef cattle, on 

 the other hand, have helped to make 

 clear to breeders the difference between 

 bodily and germinal qtialities. There 

 was a period when the study of t\-pe 

 was the ]:)revailing fad, and when it was 

 belie\'ed that if you had animals con- 

 fonning to a certain ideal beef type, 

 you would have ideal animals to ])reed 

 from as well as to btitcher. This gave 

 rise to a number of herds that were 

 very j^retty to look at, but caused 

 disillusionment later on, for as the 

 writer tersely says, Handsome is as 

 handsome does: — "The level-headed 

 fanner i)ro]KTly con.siders an animal 

 beauliftil. when its i)r()duetion is beau- 

 tiful." It was soon fimnd that bad 

 fonn and considerable departures from 

 the ideal type might be associated with 



