SELECTION AND IT8 IMPORTANCE 233 



to breeding beef cattle, and after a time concludes he pre- 

 fers a dairy breed; so he disposes of his beef stock. 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 ample evidence of super- 

 ficial knowledge and policy. 



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 this, on the plea that they cannot afford it, 

 or that the misfits 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 breeders 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 watching the 

 methods of the expert, will gain a better insight into the busi- 

 ness 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, 



*Studies in Stock Breeding, 1902, page 354. 



