296 THE BREEDING OF ANIMALS 



vestigated by the practical breeder if he is to obtain any 

 valuable basis for estimating the breeding powers of an 

 individual. 



280. Registered breeding animals. In purchasing 

 a breeding animal, the breeder desires some guarantee 

 of purity of breeding. Every recognized breed, therefore, 

 maintains an association of breeders organized for the 

 purpose of safeguarding the purity of the breeding ani- 

 mals and advancing the general interests of the breed. 

 Each association maintains a record book in which every 

 animal recognized as a pure-bred animal of the breed is 

 recorded. Each association has its own rules governing 

 the registration of animals. In practically all breed 

 associations, the offspring of registered parents can be 

 recorded. There are few exceptions to this rule. In 

 some associations animals may be registered upon the 

 basis of their performance. The Standard Bred or 

 American Trotting Horse Registry Association will record 

 any animal that has made an authentic record of a 

 mile in two minutes and thirty seconds on an approved 

 track and under regulation rules. A few associations in 

 the past have permitted the registration of animals hav- 

 ing a certain number of top crosses to registered sires. 

 The history of all breed associations is similar. A few 

 animals of similar characters have attracted attention 

 because of their peculiar value for certain purposes. 

 These animals have been interbred and gradually a family 

 or strain developed which excels in certain valuable 

 characteristics. The admirers of this family or strain 

 have organized to preserve the strain. Experience has 

 shown that one of the first and most useful steps is to 

 record the individual breeding animals of outstanding 

 merit. The descendants of these animals constitute 



