660 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 



SECTION IV SHOW-RING CONSEQUENCES 



Animals that have made their record in the show ring are 

 none the worse for that fact, and this success adds greatly to 

 their credit as individuals and to the commercial value of their 

 get afterward. Although the excessive fitting required in the 

 ring is often injurious, it. is not necessarily so. It is of course 

 true that no animal will remain long in " form," nor can the 

 process of fitting be repeated many times. Show-ring animals 

 are thus often a disappointment to the eye later on, but this is 

 no detriment to their breeding powers. The only danger from 

 excessive fitting is its effect upon fertility, and if this has been 

 impaired it will very soon become evident. 



It is a serious question as to when a breeder can afford to 

 take the risk of putting into the ring a valuable breeding animal. 

 As a matter of fact, if not of necessity, most show animals are 

 young. The writer does not share the opinion that show-ring 

 animals have necessarily been injured for breeding purposes, any 

 more than he shares the opinion that show-ring success is a 

 guaranty of breeding powers. Upon this point nothing is reli- 

 able but the actual test. 



SECTION V TESTING OF SIRES AND DAMS 



When we remember that variability cannot be reduced below 

 89 or 90 per cent of the variability of the race, or, in extreme 

 cases, perhaps to 85 per cent, and when we appreciate the fact 

 that no matter how much the type (or mean) has been improved 

 the variability remains, then we are no longer surprised at the large 

 number of mediocre individuals that appear even in blood lines 

 the most aristocratic and that have been longest " in the purple." 



The necessity for selection, therefore, will always exist, and 

 when we add to this that other fact, that many mediocTe-foe&itg 

 animals are after all great breeders and many exceptional individ- 

 uals bitter disappointments, there is an additional reason for 

 the actual test. 



And still again, no one knows positively what will be the 

 result of a new combination of blood lines until it has been 



