Essentials of Animal Breeding. 25 



The basis of pure breeding in the United States, except in the case 

 of poultry and pet stock, is pedigree registration. Animals must be 

 not only purebred, but they must be registered in the book of record 

 established for the breed. 



Standards in pure breeding are more exacting and more compli- 

 cated than in breeding solely for the production of meat, wool, milk, 

 or eggs, but they should be practical, because the proof of the prac- 

 tical value of a breeder's work is the demand which is sustained in 

 the long run for his breeding animals. The surplus of the registered 

 purebred establishments goes to improve the native and unregistered 

 grade herds and into purebred herds of less merit. A high stand- 

 ard is therefore absolutely essential to maintain quality, average 

 excellence, and the reputation of the herd. Practical ideals must have 

 quite as much weight as purely commercial considerations in the 

 determination of the standards. 



A breeder's success depends to a very large extent on his ability 

 as a qualified judge of animals, on his knowledge of the pedigrees 

 of his animals, and on his acquaintance with the characteristics of 

 the ancestors of those animals. The breeder's ability as a judge 

 must be based on an instinctive gift to recognize animal types and 

 carry them clearly in mind. This is of even more importance than 

 a knowledge of pedigrees, because a knowledge of pedigrees is of 

 practical value only as it gives its possessor an acquaintance with 

 the individuality and type of the ancestors in the pedigrees, which 

 he may use in making effective matings and thus perfecting the 

 type of his animals. One of our most eminent breeders of hogs 

 once made the statement, "I breed my hogs in the barnyard, with 

 the animals before me, not in my parlor with their pedigrees before 

 me." That homely statement carries a truth which every ambi- 

 tious young breeder should follow. Before deciding to make a 

 certain mating, the man who made this statement is said to spend 

 hours studying his breeding animals, going over their character- 

 istics, and especially recalling to mind the characteristics of their 

 parents, grandparents, and more remote ancestors. If this review 

 is satisfactory, the mating is made ; if not, some other is tried. 



To sum up, knowledge of a pedigree must not stop with the 

 routine knowledge of the names of the animals which compose it. 

 The breeder must know also the characteristics of these animals, as 

 far back as possible, their weaknesses as well as their strong points. 

 When he possesses this information the breeder can more intelli- 

 gently mate individuals and blend bloodlines. He has then a prac- 

 tical working knowledge of pedigrees. The study of pedigrees, 

 therefore, based on a knowledge of the characteristics of the ani- 

 mals composing them, is indispensable to the man who would excel 

 as a constructive breeder. 



