PEDIGREES AND THEIR VALUE 47 



Sale catalogues should be saved by the breeder, for they 

 will often be found valuable for reference, even though some 

 of them are carelessly prepared. The register of merit 

 should also be kept for reference, so that information may 

 be at hand regarding official records of production. One also 

 should read the current literature regarding the breed. Some 

 of the more important breeds are represented by special 

 journals, which contain a large amount of information con- 

 cerning animals of distinction. By these various methods 

 one may accumulate much knowledge regarding pedigrees of 

 animals. 



IN MAKING A STUDY OF THE PEDIGREE 



1. What does it show? 



2. What is a grade or high grade? 



3. Explain the bracket form and its value. 



4. What is meant by line of female descent? 



5. How many ancestors does one have in the fifth generation back? 



6. How important is the blood influence of an animal ten genera- 



tions back? 



7. What is merit value of pedigree? 



8. Describe a pedigree score card. 



9. Give two causes of inaccurate pedigrees? 



10. How can one become familiar with pedigrees? 



BRING TO THE CLASS 



11. The pedigree of an animal with which you are acquainted. 



12. An example of a bracketed pedigree. 



13. A sample of a Shorthorn pedigree. 



14. Pedigree showing merit, or performance of, 



(a) Dairy cattle 



(b) Race horses 



15. A sale catalogue showing prices paid for animals. 



16. A pedigree containing an error. 



