ANIMAL BREEDING 66 1 



tried ; thus, by every count, we arrive at the conclusion that 

 real progress is assured only with tested animals. 



Testing dams. The test of a dam is what she has produced. 

 If the herd has been bred by the owner, and in general no 

 other course is consistent, then the records of the herd will 

 show the breeding powers of every female in it, and any one 

 that is not satisfactory should be promptly eliminated. If this 

 course is pursued, then at any given moment the owner of an 

 established herd will be in possession of a tested herd, so far as 

 the females are concerned, and the only additional testing is of 

 each new sire that is brought into service. 1 



This is a comparatively simple matter if the breeding powers 

 of the female side of the herd are well known. If they are not 

 well known, the breeder is worse off than the ship at sea without 

 rudder or compass ; he may multiply animals, but he will never 

 do much real breeding. If a female is brought into the herd, she 

 should on all accounts be brought in on her breeding record if 

 possible ; for, of a hundred females, only a few will prove great 

 mothers or even good mothers. If, of necessity, young females 

 are put into the herd, then they must be regarded, like the regu- 

 lar produce of the herd, as under a test until each shall prove 

 herself a breeder entitled to a place in the permanent herd. 



Testing young females. This is a job that the breeder has 

 always at hand. His herd is short-lived at the best, and however 

 good it may be it will become extinct by death in a few years 

 unless reenforced from younger stock. 



While individuals live many years, it is found in actual prac- 

 tice that the character of the entire herd will change in five 

 years with cattle and horses, and in much less time with sheep 

 and swine, unless properly reenforced with young animals. A 

 breeding herd is a moving tide of life, and what the breeder 

 does he must do quickly. He must reenforce the stream while 

 it is at the flood. He must keep the number high by con- 

 tinual reinforcement and not wait till the herd is shrinking on 

 his hands. 



1 It is needless to remark that many breeders have not yet learned the prin- 

 ciple of maintaining their own stock of females ; indeed, a good number confess 

 to buying females to " keep up the herd." 



