SELECTION OF BREEDING ANIMALS. 269 



The idea seemingly intended to be developed 

 by the great experimenters for our guidance is 

 simply that a general standard should in prac- 

 tice be made as narrow and personal as possi- 

 ble. That is, if all animals within a certain 

 standard of excellence be esteemed good, we 

 should still try to form some clear and distinct 

 idea of which among them are best, and to 

 aim to reach that standard in practice without 

 being distracted and drawn off by somebody 

 else achieving remarkable success in producing 

 his best. The choice which we will make in 

 actual purchases will even then seem very un- 

 like to that made by some who take one or 

 another of the animals as a standard and com- 

 pare the most unlike to it. The real thing is 

 that to reach a desired type you must vary on 

 every side a little, and by years of careful, 

 thoughtful breeding gradually attain the ob- 

 ject sought. 



It is perhaps necessary to admit that many 

 breeders do not really breed with a view to at- 

 tain such an ideal, but are content to see no 

 further than the stock before their eyes and to 

 use what comes to their hands as best they may. 

 This is only half true. Many of the breeders 

 who most decidedly scout the idea of their 

 having any theory or standard in breeding are 

 the very ones most tied to their own idea and 

 theory. This is nothing strange ; it is human 



