FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



retary of the society assigns to it a 

 number in the order in which it is re- 

 ceived. These numbers are known as 

 the Registration Numbers. They are 

 entered in the book variously called stud 

 book, herd book or flock book. These 

 books are usually issued yearly. For 

 American animals the numbers are usu- 

 ally given without brackets, but Cana- 

 dian or European records are either in 

 brackets or marked off by dashes. Fol- 

 lowing the number of the registered ani- 

 mal are usually found certain initials 

 which in the case of a Jersey animal 

 might be A. J. C. C, which stands for 

 American Jersey Cattle Club, and shows 

 that the animal is recorded in the reg- 

 istry of this club. 



The reliability of a pedigree in any 

 instance, depends upon the character of 

 the association which publishes the rec- 

 ord and also upon the integrity of the 

 individual breeder. Nearly all of the 

 breeds of importance are divided into 

 families and there may be as many 

 different associations and registry books, 

 and it is important that the breeder of 

 pure bred stock knows the initials used 

 by all of these associations and be posted 

 with reference to their standing. It 

 may detract greatly from the value of 

 an animal to be recorded in a herd book 

 which does not have the support of the 

 best breeders, or with an association 

 which is lax in its requirements of reg- 

 istration. 



A complete pedigree should be trace- 

 able for at least six generations. When 

 all the sires and dams are known for 

 that length of time, the pedigree is said 

 to be complete. But when any are lack- 

 ing, it is termed short bred. With im- 

 ported animals, however, it is only 

 necessary that the registration run back 

 to the importation, and the initials Imp. 

 after a number means that the animal 

 was imported. Not all societies follow 

 the same method in presenting pedi- 

 grees. In the case of Shorthorn and 

 some other cattle breeders' associations, 

 a simple statement is given of the sire 

 and dam of an animal and then of the 

 dams in successive order, thus leaving 

 out the breeding of the sire's side. A 

 complete pedigree requires that both 

 lines be traced out for at least six gen- 

 erations. 



In presenting a pedigree the name of 

 the animal is first given with such other 

 data as are necessary to identify it and 

 then an ordinary brace is used, after 



which the sire is placed above and the 

 dam below, another brace follows the 

 name of the sire and at the top again 

 of this brace the sire is given and the 

 dam below. The same procedure is car- 

 ried out for further generations and 

 with the dam also. 



Illustration of pedigree — To illus- 

 trate this point further, a Jersey pedigree 

 is given in a condensed form on the fol- 

 lowing page showing not only the sires 

 and dams, but also their performance 

 records. The outline presents the pedi- 

 gree of a bull calf offered for sale by the 

 Hartmann Stock Farm, in 1906, as an- 

 nounced in "The Jersey Bulletin." 



A glance at this record shows that the 

 grandsire and great-grandsire have pro- 

 duced cows which have given a high 

 yield of butter and that the grand- 

 mother, great-grandmother, and great- 

 great-grandmother on the sire's side, 

 were all heavy performers. A fairly 

 complete and satisfactory account is 

 also given of the ancestors on the moth- 

 er's side. This pedigree, while it does 

 not prove positively the merits of the 

 bull offered for sale, indicates that it 

 comes from good stock and the chances 

 are that it inherits a good many of the 

 characteristics of its ancestors. 



Herd books and other records — The 

 Jersey breeders have an official book 

 showing the butter records of many of 

 the registered cows of the breed, which 

 helps greatly in estimating the prob- 

 able value of an animal. In tracing 

 out a Shorthorn pedigree, we would look 

 up the official record in the American 

 Shorthorn Herd Book. In the same 

 way, in looking up the pedigree of stand- 

 ard bred horses, the year book, published 

 by the American Trotting Association, 

 would be used. 



In the case of beef cattle, there are 

 no official records of production. In 

 such cases, the show yard winnings and 

 sale reports take the place of other rec- 

 ords. In order that the pedigree of an 

 animal may be valuable to a breeder, it 

 is necessary that he know the different 

 families of the breeds, and many of the 

 noted animals in the different families. 

 The number of times these noted ani- 

 mals or their progeny appear have a 

 definite meaning to the breeder when 

 he knows what they stand for. 



Advanced registry — Some breeders 

 have what is known as an Advanced 

 Registry. Animals to be eligible to rec- 

 ord in the advanced registry book must 



