THE, DAIRY HERD 15 



portance to have animals which transmit their qualities 

 to their offspring with a high degree of certainty, and it 

 is for this reason that pure-bred animals are so much pre- 

 ferred to those of promiscuous breeding. 



PEDIGREE. 



A pedigree is a recorded statement of the ancestry of 

 an animal. It is furnished in many cases simply as a 

 guarantee of purity of breeding. Its real value, howev'er, 

 is determined by the merit of the animals which it repre- 

 sents. A 300 pound butter cow with an unbroken list of 

 noted dairy performers back of her is much to be pre- 

 ferred to a 300 pound cow among whose ancestors some 

 inferior individuals are found, and especially if the infer- 

 ior individuals are near ancestors. 



While, generally, pedigreed animals are much to be 

 preferred to those of promiscuous breeding, it by no 

 means follows that all pedigreed animals are desirable. 

 Far from it. There probably are now-a-days as many poor 

 pedigreed dairy animals as good ones. "Scrubs" are 

 found among pedigreed cows just, as they are found 

 among common or native cows, though of course far 

 less frequently. 



The reason of the existence of inferior individuals 

 among pure-bred dairy animals is found in the fact that 

 eligibility to registration in most cases is not based upon 

 production or individual excellence, but upon purity of 

 breeding. This fact has made it possible for many 

 animals to enter the herd register which, by nature, were 

 fit only for the shambles. In the purchase of pure-bred 

 . stock, therefore, no judicious selection can be made from 

 a mere list of names of individuals, no matter how long 

 this list is or how "high sounding" the names it contains 



