PREPOTENCY 565 



This is an average of 34.5 direct get, and the grand-get (17,029) 

 covers two thirds of all in the list (26,327). It is, therefore, the 

 very cream of the breed. What, now, is the breeding record of 

 the performing sires of this list as compared with that of the 

 non-performing ? 



The non-performing sires (1941, column 4) are almost double 

 the number of the performing sires (1062, column 2). These 

 1941 non-performing sires produced a total of 9186 performers, 

 a ratio of 4.7 each; while the 1062 performing sires pro- 

 duced in all 7843 performers, a ratio of 7.4 each. 



If any difference in breeding powers is correlated with high 

 speed, it would be reduced rather than exaggerated in this table, 

 for the list of what are called non-performers clearly includes a 

 good many potential performers that had the inherent ability to 

 " go " if all conditions had been favorable. 



At the same time it must not be forgotten that the non-per- 

 forming sires on this list are of the same blood lines as are 'the 

 performing sires, being in every case at least half-brothers out of 

 the same sire. 1 To the writer the conclusion seems inevitable 

 that the heavy difference of 7.4 against 4.7 apiece is in a large 

 sense correlated with the individual ability to " perform." 



Turning to individual cases, we find that the performing sires 

 got by Geo. Wilkes (line 65) produced on an average 37.5 

 performers apiece (1501-^40), while his non-performing sires 

 produced an average of only 14.6 (909 -5- 62), although the popu- 

 larity of Wilkes' blood was enough to assure almost any son of 

 his a "good chance." 



Nutwood (line 120), the greatest sire of speed, produced 55 

 performing sires and 77 <w-performing sires. The first produced 

 at the rate of 5.3 (291 -s- 55) and the second at the rate of 5.2 

 (402 -j- 77), almost exactly the same. Onward (line 121) pro- 

 duced 34 performing sires and 72 non-performing. The first 

 produced performers at the rate of 6.7 each, the second at the 

 rate of 3.1. 



Hambletonian 10 (line 70), the most successful producer of 

 racing blood and the foundation of almost all modern blood lines, 



1 The table is confined to those stallions that produced both performing and 

 non-performing sires. 



