Breeding Funk Percherons. 149, 



showing measures of centgener values of stallions, 

 would begin to designate certain horses as of very pe- 

 culiar merit as breeders. The records capable of being 

 averaged so as to give the centgener values of the 

 mares would accumulate much more slowly. But in 

 eight or ten years there would be accumulated data of a 

 sufficient number of colts from each mare bred to a cer- 

 tain group of sires that could be compared with a sim- 

 ilar number of colts from each other mare bred to sires 

 by years respectively, thus giving the breeding values 

 ^f each mare in the terms of her average progeny. 



The first available evidences of strong breeding 

 powers would come in the side of the males. As soon 

 as really superior male blood should be found at hand 

 the full complement of mares to stock all the farms 

 might be secured and the blood of the superior sire 

 used on them, possibly utilizing the multiple impreg- 

 nation scheme where necessary and reasonable. Soon 

 there would arise young stallions and females having 

 blood lines proved especially efficient. These and the 

 best foundation stallions and mares would take prom- 

 inent place on all the farms. The mares and stallions 

 of second quality, and the young things with blood lines 

 less emphasized by the statistical pedigrees would sell 

 well, because they were all selected originally with un- 

 usual care from among the best studs. Whether in- 

 breeding would do serious harm or would prove harm- 

 ful only in certain families may be a mooted question in 

 breeding Percherons, but it would be better to be safe 

 and not base these Percherons on too narrow a founda- 

 tion, that is, not on too few 7 foundation parents. The 

 blood of at least the best three to five sires and the best 

 five to ten dams should probably be retained in the 

 foundation group of parent blood lines. Complete rec- 

 ords with the demonstrated values worked out for each 

 individual,- would in time show whether close breeding 

 causes injuries. But whether closely bred or out- 

 crossed, the blood of those animals making the best 

 showing under statisically kept facts would eventually 



