246 BEGINNINGS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



most careful and conscientious. The published herd-books 

 of registry associations have in the past contained many 

 errors, although conditions now are greatly improved. Then 

 honest men have copied from sale catalogues pedigrees that 

 contained mistakes, and have republished these errors. The 

 most unfortunate pedigree is the " doctored/' or crooked, 

 one. Fraudulent pedigrees exist, and men have on more 

 than one occasion been prohibited from doing business 

 with registry associations on account of fraud. If guilty, 

 the penitentiary is what they deserve. Integrity is the 

 foundation on which the pure-bred live-stock business is 

 based, and all known cases of fraud should be regarded as 

 of criminal character, and be punished accordingly. 



A study of the pedigree is a necessity, if one is to become a 

 successful breeder of pure-bred stock. There are several 

 ways by which one may become familiar with pedigrees. 

 Suppose one is to breed Jersey cattle. Then, if in the busi- 

 ness in a serious way, he should try and secure the herd- 

 books published by the American Jersey Cattle Club. These 

 are the original source from which all Jersey pedigrees are 

 made up in the United States. Having these books, one 

 may at any time trace the pedigrees of registered animals. 

 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 

 concerning animals of distinction. By these various methods 

 one may accumulate much knowledge regarding pedigrees of 

 animals. 



