THE SELECTION PROBLEM IN ANIMAL BREEDING 



501 



his herd, no other animals were introduced from outside sources. Of 

 necessity, therefore, his was a method of close inbreeding, and he did 

 not shrink for a moment from using this method to the fullest extent. 

 The same method of breeding characterizes the work of other early 

 breeders. Thus one of the most famous of early Shorthorn bulls, Comet 

 (155) was very closely inbred as shown by the pedigree in Fig. 194. 

 At public auction this great bull was sold in 1810 for 1000 guineas, 

 a very high price at that time. He was considered the crowning achieve- 



Comet (155) 



Favorite (252) 



[ Foljambe (263) 

 Bolingbroke (86) \ 



( Young Strawberry 



Phoenix 



[ Foljambe (263) 

 [ Favorite 



Young 

 Phoenix 



Favorite (252) 



Bolingbroke (86) 



[ Foljambe (263) 



Young Strawberry 



Phoenix 



[ Foljambe 

 ( Favorite 



f Foljambe (263) 



Phoenix 



( Young Strawberry 



FIG. 194. The pedigree of Comet (155), an illustration of extreme inbreeding in Shorthorn 



foundation stock. 



ment of Charles Ceiling's notable career as a breeder of Shorthorn cattle. 

 The extremely close breeding shown in this sample pedigree from a 

 notable herd of Shorthorn cattle may again be used as an argument in 

 support of the isolation interpretation of selection in successful practical 

 breeding operations. 



In fact throughout the entire history of animal breeding, improve- 

 ment has been most strikingly referable to the influence of a limited 

 number of families and individuals of superior excellence, a fact which 

 speaks strongly for the isolation view of selection. Every breed has its 

 famous animals and families, and every breeder who has studied pedigrees 

 at all must have been impressed by the small percentage of early animals 

 which are represented in almost every pedigree of present-day individuals 

 of the breed. The "search for the prepotent sire" and full utilization 

 of him when discovered have been the central features of the breeding 



