358 IMPROVEMENT AND FEEDING 



live stock. Pure-bred animals are those which have been 

 bred for particular qualities during a number of genera- 

 tions. To be recognized as "pure," they must have a 

 pedigree, that is, a statement of their ancestry. Grades are 

 the offspring of a " pure-bred " parent and a scrub or an- 

 other "grade." When more than half of an animal's 

 parentage is pure bred, it is called high grade. If the ani- 

 mal comes from a cross between two different kinds of 

 pure breeds, it is called a crossbred. 



Few farmers can afford to stock a farm all at once with 

 pure-bred animals. The cost is too high, desirable as 

 such animals are. As a rule, the best way is to " grade 

 up " the stock. For this, the farmer needs to buy only a 

 pure-bred male for his herd sire. This sire is bred to the 

 best females at hand. Of the offspring, only the best are 

 kept for mothers. By continuing to select and breed in 

 this way, the herd will soon consist of "high grades." If 

 the farmer can afford to buy one or two pure-bred females, 

 along with the sire, he will be laying the foundation for a 

 new pure-bred herd at the same time that he is so " grad- 

 ing up " his old herd. 



263. A breeder may aim at any one of a variety of qualities. 

 and, by skillful selection of animals to be bred, he may 

 approach his ideal. Unfortunately, too many breed mainly 

 for qualities that are only ornamental. Until very re- 

 cently, chicken breeders selected breeding stock more to 

 secure markings of the feathers than to secure high egg 

 production ; and prizes at poultry shows have usually 

 been awarded on this false basis. So breeders of Jersey 

 cows have often been in the habit of discarding a good 

 milker if she did not happen to have a black nose and 

 black tongue, while Guernsey breeders discard heifers, 

 otherwise promising, if they do have a black nose. 



It is beginning to be understood that such practice is 



