Mower County Beef Shorthorns. 107 



England could remain at the front only by devising 

 better methods than the Yankees can devise. Having 

 their pedigrees on a statistical rather than on a mere 

 "certificate of names" basis would give them a great 

 advantage. The difference in cost entailed by paying 

 importation charges would be a very nice margin for 

 profits to the members of a county breeders' associa- 

 tion. Once superior stock were thus offered the outside 

 breeder could no more afford to have the superior sup- 

 ply of males cut off than could the breeders of Short- 

 horn cattle a few decades ago have afforded to be de- 

 barred from purchasing bulls in England. 



In like manner, we should have centralized or 

 merged organizations for the breeding of Hereford, 

 Aberdeen-Angus and Galloway cattle. While the 

 forms of suggestions here made are somewhat specific 

 they are so principally to make the matter clear. The 

 purpose is to set our breeders to thinking as to how 

 America can take the lead in animal breeding and how 

 it can take advantage of the following three 

 principles of breeding which must be taken into account 

 before highest success may be expected. These three 

 principles are : 



(i) There is one very valuable breeding animal or 

 plant in every 5,000 to 100,000 individuals. (2) To 

 find this occasional one superior breeder, large num- 

 bers must be judged, tested and the recorded results 

 of their breeding powers tabulated. (3) Once we have 

 superior blood accompanied by the thoroughly authen- 

 ticated, statistical evidence of its superiority adequate 

 methods of bringing about its general adoption should 

 be put into operation. 



After all, these suggestions are not very remote 

 from practices already followed in the breeding of 

 trotting horses, except in the matter of cooperative or- 

 ganization. Why should it not be possible for farm- 

 ers who cooperate in managing creameries and schools 

 to cooperate in breeding dairy or beef cattle? States 

 now furnish inspectors to bring up the grade of butter 



