4 



LIVE-STOCK JUDGING 



rial available to the feeder ; with good material insured, 

 however, it is incumbent upon the feeder to make the 

 most of the possibilities which the breeder has afforded 

 him. 



1. Breeding for improvement. Breeding, as we com- 

 monly interpret the term, consists in regulating the progeny 

 by controlling the parentage, to attain improvement. The 

 constructive breeder aims at more than the mere multi- 

 plication of his foundation stock ; he strives for qualita- 

 tive as well as quantitative improvement with each 

 succeeding generation. Although improvement may be 

 slight in each instance, the cumulative results of a num- 

 ber of generations, the progenitors of which have been 

 carefully selected, may be considerable. This has been 

 the principal factor operating in the evolution of the 

 domestic types and breeds of animals, mutations having 

 been much more useful to plant than to animal breeders. 

 The bases for the qualitative improvement to which selec- 

 tion is made in the breeding of animals are, in most in- 

 stances, characters which were originally possessed by 

 them in their feral state and useful only for their own 

 subsistence. Under domestication these natural func- 

 tions have been perverted, readapted and developed so 

 as to amply serve the needs and purposes of man. The 

 motive governing live-stock improvement has been well 

 expressed by Owen : " Whatever the animal kingdom can 

 afford for our food or clothing, tools, weapons, and arma- 

 ment, whatever the lower creation can contribute to our 

 wants, our comforts, our possessions or our pride, that we 

 sternly exact and take at all costs." 



2. Selection is judging. Control of the parents is 

 accomplished by means of selection, and selection is 

 judging. Proficiency in this regard is fundamental, for 



