46 



The Journal of Heredity 



EGYPTIAN CATTLE OF CENTURIES AGO 



This picture, from a tomb relief of the 26th Century B. C, shows Egyptian peasants plowing. 

 It is interesting in this connection because it shows the type of cattle which evidently existed 

 at that time. Those depicted here were undoubtedly well fitted for draught purposes, but ver>' 

 far from the type desired for beef purposes. The sway back, thin body and long legs are what 

 breeders throughout the centuries have sought to overcome. ^Photograph by courtesy of National 

 Museum.) (Fig. 32.) 



of purel)reds on farms in the Ignited 

 States is increasing. 



The scrub females are beheved to be 

 the remnants of former inferior stock 

 before purebred sires were used, since 

 purebred males lead automatically to 

 either purebred, crossbred, or grade 

 offspring, depending on the blofKJlines 

 of the females used. 



It is noteworthy that the largest 

 proportion of female stock of pure 

 breeding occurs in the case of the 

 smaller and more prolific animals. In 

 poultry the proportion of purebred 

 females to all females was 70.5 per 

 cent, and in swine 65.4 per cent. The 

 corresponding figure for cattle was 37 

 jxT cent, and for horses 11.9. 



Comments accomi)anying blanks of 

 enrollment indicated that many live- 

 stock owners had used purebred sires 

 for a considerable period, which ex- 

 plains the low percentage of scrubs. 



This evidence points strongly to the 

 influence of purebred sires on improve- 

 ment in quality of herds and flocks. 



SHOWS RESULTS OF STATE WORK FOR 

 HKTTKR BULLS 



The dri\e which many States have 

 been waging against scrub bulls was 

 reflected in the figures of the Depart- 

 ment. More purebred bulls were en- 

 rolled in the "Better-Sires" movement 

 than any other sires except poultry. 

 At the end of December, 1920, there 

 were enrolled in the "Better-Sires- 

 Better Stock" campaign 156,832 ani- 

 mals, and, in addition. 238,122 poultr\-. 



KAIIO ()!■ SlKi;S TO I).\MS 



I)e\elopments of the campaign ha\e 

 resulted also in figures showing the 

 relative number of males and females 

 kept on farms for breeding purpo.ses. 

 Following are the ratios based on nearly 



