232 C ATTLE-BREEPING. 



remote cross running to the "American woods" 

 on a herd of the most faultlessly-bred cows the 

 whole of the produce under our existing theory 

 in Short-horn circles would be reduced to 

 grades. Thus the idea of family in its ordi- 

 nary application is to be taken with great care 

 and caution. It is not enough to know that a 

 given animal traces to a good family in the 

 direct female line. To get the real key to the 

 situation we must take the standpoint of the 

 early. breeders, and taking up every bull see 

 that all the bulls in all the pedigrees have pedi- 

 grees running to good families. This is tedious 

 no doubt, but all good solid work is apt to be 

 tedious; and it is not nearly so hard as to buy a 

 few animals at large prices on the faith of the 

 family name in the direct female line and wake 

 up some fine morning to find that they are little 

 better than grades. I have had the misfortune 

 to have to break the news of this sort of thing 

 to a great many unfortunates, and I think they 

 would have been glad to have taken a great 

 deal of pains to undo what was irreparable. At 

 one time I used to get scores of letters in almost 

 the same formula: "Mr. Blank says this pedi- 

 gree is bad. What is the matter with it?" And 

 nine out of ten showed at a glance what was 

 the matter, and had a little study been given to 

 the fundamental facts of pedigrees the unfor- 

 tunate owners would not have made so much 



