THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 263 



becomes "fixed." The record of this long line 

 of breeding is known as the pedigree. The 

 longer the pedigree, the greater is the likeli- 

 hood that the animal will reproduce its charac- 

 ters; that is, characteristics which have been 

 long present are more potent than those which 

 are recently acquired. Hence, a long pedigree 

 should indicate more value than a short pedigree. 



487. For the general farmer, it is unwise to 

 buy a herd of pure-blood stock, unless the object 

 is to breed pure-blood stock for sale. The breed- 

 ing of pure- blood animals is a business by itself, 

 and few persons are competent to succeed in it. 

 But every farmer can greatly improve his stock, 

 if he starts with and constantly uses a good pure- 

 blood male mated with good native females. 

 From the grades so produced improvement will 

 be rapid and sure if the poorest are constantly 

 sold and only the best bred from. 



2. Where Stock-raising Is Advisable 



488. Having now considered some of the 

 principles involved in securing good stock, we 

 may next inquire in what regions and under 

 what conditions it can be raised profitably. 

 Live-stock raising is particularly advantageous 

 on the cheap, unoccupied and uncultivable lands 

 of the West and South. In those regions, stock 



