554 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



of pure-bred animals is by far the most important system of breeding, and 

 the one that should be followed to a greater extent by farmers in the United 

 States and Canada. The greatest improvement can be made in a herd 

 of livestock by this system of breeding. The use of both pure-bred sire 

 and dam enables the farmer to follow a more rigid system of selection and 

 cull out undesirable individuals, which is not always possible in grading 

 and cross-breeding. There is one weakness, however, that every breeder 

 of pure-bred animals is apt to encounter, and that is a certain degree of 



hesitation about elim- 

 inating an animal 

 from his herd that 

 may be pure-bred and 

 yet not up to the 

 standard which he 

 has set for building 

 up his herd. 



Grading is an- 

 other means of mak- 

 ing a marked improve- 

 ment on the average 

 farm herd. By grad- 

 ing is meant the mat- 

 ing of a common or 

 relatively inferior 

 animal with one that 

 is more highly im- 

 proved, usually a pure- 

 bred. This pure-bred 

 may be either the sire 

 or dam, but it is usually the sire, as the sire can be used upon a number 

 of females in the herd and thus exercise greater influence in making the 

 improvement. If the pure-bred dam and a grade sire are used, very 

 little improvement is made; besides, such improvement is restricted to 

 one mating. If a pure-bred sire is used for five generations, it will mean 

 that at the end of that time the herd is practically pure-bred, but can 

 never be registered. Rigid selection and the use of a pure-bred sire 

 should always be continued. 



By cross-breeding is meant the mating of two pure-bred animals of 

 different breeds. Nothing is to be gained by such method of breeding, as 

 it destroys the pure lines that may have been established and also has a 

 tendency to cause a greater variation. Cross-breeding is sometimes 

 profitably carried on in producing market animals, but it should never be 

 carried beyond the first generation. Cross-bred animals should never be 



Two Pure-bred Bulls. Polled Angus on the Left, 

 Shorthorn on the Right. 1 



Sires of this character should head the herd of all well- 

 regulated stock farms. 



1 Courtesy of Dept. of Animal Husbandry, Pennsylvania State College. 



