338 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



sufficient encouragement is given to insure the success 

 of the enterprise, an individual, or an association of 

 breeders, may undertake the publication of a record, 

 which is called a herd-book or stud-book. 



Any animals that are generally acknowledged to 

 belong to the particular breed are admitted to this 

 record, although their owners may not be able to fur- 

 nish a detailed statement of their ancestral history. 



Animals that have been the means of establishing 

 the reputation of the breed by their superior merit, 

 will be found on the record, side by side, not only 

 with the inferior members of the breed, but with 

 those of questionable purity of blood. Many animals 

 may trace their descent from herds that have been 

 noted for producing the best representatives of the 

 breed, while others will have nothing in their ances- 

 tral history to recommend them aside from their sup- 

 posed purity of blood. 



As the original records include animals of very 

 unequal merit, their descendants, that appear in the 

 later volumes of the herd-books, must present a like 

 diversity in their qualities. 



From these differences in the quality of the ani- 

 mals entitled to record, it will be seen that the inher- 

 ited peculiarities of an individual, aside from the 

 general characters belonging to the breed, must be 

 determined by evidence not contained in the herd 

 books ; and that the pedigree, as recorded, will only 

 serve as a guide to the study of inherited characters, 

 from its enumeration of the individuals comprised in 

 the ancestry, without indicating their relative rank or 

 value. 



