32 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



Thus years of effort may be upset in a few days. More 

 than one man in a vainglorious way has stated that he has 

 tried all the breeds of this or that kind of stock, and that he 

 knows all about them. Such a statement is evidence of 

 superficial knowledge and policy, and that he will never 

 amount to anything as a breeder. 



Intelligent selection requires severe culling of the herd. 

 Men improve the average of the herd through the removal of 

 the more undesirable animals. Some persons, however, find 

 it difficult to do so, on the plea that they can not afford it, 

 or that the misfit will do for the present. Yet the more 

 uniform the excellence of the animals in a group, the more 

 profitable the results to be secured. George A. Brown 

 refers* to a practice followed in many parts of Australia, 

 of employing an expert to cull and select the breeding 

 animals in Merino stud flocks. Comment is made that, 

 when the expert really understands his business, this plan 

 has its advantages. A young stockman, by closely watch- 

 ing the methods of the expert, will gain a better insight 

 into the business of selection for stud breeding than he 

 could by any other means. 



Selection as a means of securing desirable characters is 

 one of the most easily applied practices. It is common to 

 find certain recognized weaknesses or defects within a herd. 

 It may be shown, for example, in a heavy, plain shoulder, 

 or a weak, narrow back or an inferior hind quarter. The 

 necessary thing to do under such circumstances is, first, to 

 secure a sire that is especially strong where the females are 

 weak; and, secondly, to dispose as rapidly as possible of the 

 animals that possess these deficiencies in the most striking 

 degree. In the most progressive live-stock communities, 

 high-class breeding stock is greatly valued. In fact, we have 

 no way of accurately measuring the value of a great, pre- 

 potent sire. It is understood by those familiar with many 

 British flocks and herds that the best breeding animals can 



*Studies in Stock Breeding, 1902, page 354. 



