810 A HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



been the case with Shorthorns, the refuse of the 

 pedigree Herefords, not to mention large numbers 

 of grades, went to the range along with a certain 

 percentage of good ones. Then came the often care- 

 less piling of Hereford upon Hereford, with more 

 or less disregard of individual excellence, within the 

 same pastures and with few infusions of fresh blood. 

 At this time, however, there is a very general 

 appreciation of the fact that by care in the selection 

 of big type bulls resort to other blood may be 

 avoided. 



In-Breeding from Poor Material Fatal. In-and- 

 in-breeding, or close breeding, is the greatest po- 

 tential power for good in the whole realm of animal 

 breeding, but it is attended by good results only 

 where the animals closely mated are of a robust and 

 desirable individual character. The doubling of the 

 blood of inferior or weak specimens of any breed is 

 the shortest of all cuts to absolute ruin. It is apt 

 to intensify faults even faster than it fixes good 

 qualities. Happily, some ranchmen have been wise 

 enough to diagnose this situation and avoid the pit- 

 falls into which certain of their contemporaries fell. 

 Such criticism as has been passed upon some of the 

 range-bred Herefords as lacking in size and quality 

 can in almost every case be traced not to any inher- 

 ent defect in the breed, but to the application of un- 

 scientific methods in the handling of the blood. 



In some cases where loss of size resulted resort 

 has been had to a cross back to the Shorthorn. 

 Therefore, the latter breed has in recent years been 



