344 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



cause he can be bought at a moderate price. Some of 

 his calves may resemble their dams in their best points, 

 while in many of them the defects of both parents 

 may predominate. 



When another bull is needed in the herd, a similar 

 selection is made, in direct violation of the established 

 rules of the modern system of breeding. 



The effects of this hap-hazard system, or, rather, 

 lack of system, are readily recognized in the great 

 differences in form and quality presented by individual 

 animals, and the low average excellence of the herd. 



The pedigree of an animal from the herd of Mr. 

 A would not only represent qualities that were in 

 themselves valuable, but a potency in the hereditary 

 transmission of these qualities that would be highly 

 valued by the experienced breeder. 



The pedigree of an animal from the herd of Mr. 

 B would not add to its value for the purposes of the 

 breeder, as its inherited tendencies, as shown by its 

 ancestral history, would be such as it would not be 

 desirable to perpetuate. 



From these extreme cases it must be seen that the 

 value of an animal for breeding purposes does not 

 depend entirely upon its form and apparent qualities 

 when studied as an individual, but also upon its pedi- 

 gree which represents the sum of its inherited char- 

 acteristics. 



In breeding-stock, individual excellence in con- 

 nection with the best inherited characters is of course 

 desirable in all cases ; but, when it is impossible to 

 secure this combination of qualities, the breeder should 

 not lose sight of the fact that the greatest perfection 



