l88 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 



not more effective than mixed breeding, which in truth it really 

 is, unless the object be the formation of a new breed, which is a 

 long and tedious task, but entirely feasible in theory, as we 

 have seen. 



Some additional points may well be noted upon these four 

 systems of breeding. The first, or mixed breeding, has nothing 

 to commend it to the progressive farmer. It is and always will 

 be the method of the shortsighted stockman, who does not look 

 ahead, and who sees nothing beyond immediate results, but who 

 feels obliged and perhaps is obliged to be economical. 



Pure breeding requires relatively large numbers, in order to 

 afford material for selection. With the larger animals this means 

 large capital, putting this method of breeding out of the reach 

 of the average stockman. With the smaller animals, especially 

 the prolific pigs and poultry, every man should breed only pure- 

 bred animals. Whether he goes to the trouble of getting them 

 recorded will depend upon whether he desires to sell to other 

 breeders or only to raise for the open market. 



With the larger and more expensive animals, grading is the 

 form of improvement to be recommended for universal practice. 

 Here the farmer uses the females already on hand and buys only 

 the sire, which is the only recorded animal needed in this form 

 of improvement. 



This sire is half parent to every young thing born, so the first 

 crop of young will be half bloods ; that is, they will have half 

 the advantage of pure breeding by the use of a single animal, 

 while to give the offspring the other half would require the 

 purchase not of a single animal but of as many as there are 

 females in the herd, one dam for each offspring. 



Suppose, for example, a farmer has thirty common cows. How 

 will the expense run in the two methods of breeding .!* If he is to 

 breed pure, he must sell these cows and with the proceeds buy 

 pedigreed animals. It will take at least three common cows to 

 buy one registered cow that is equally good as a performer, and 

 if the pedigree '' runs in the purple," it will take many more. 



