QUALIFICATIONS OF BREEDING ANIMALS 77 



Pedigree and Individuality. Pedigree and individuality 

 should always receive first consideration in selecting pure- 

 bred live stock. Animals intended for meat, milk or work 

 alone are judged entirely according to their individuality. 

 The lineage of the pure-bred animal is very important, 

 yet individuality should not be disregarded. A purchaser 

 can make no greater mistake than to select a pure-bred 

 animal on pedigree alone, as the pure breeds of live stock 

 contain some very inferior individuals. If the ancestors 

 of an animal have all been successful breeders, and the 

 individual corresponds closely to the information contained 

 in the pedigree, such an animal will usually prove to be 

 a successful breeder. The individual is often considered 

 favorably without placing proper emphasis on the pedigree. 

 This is a mistake even more serious than the former. Indi- 

 viduals may be very impressive on conformation alone, yet 

 uniform characteristics may not always be transmitted. 



Breeding animals are often selected on individuality 

 alone. Others are selected on pedigree alone. These two 

 factors, pedigree and individually, should be evenly balanced 

 to get the most valuable breeding animal. If the pedigree 

 meets with approval and the individual is lacking in some 

 essential characteristics, such as constitution, vitality, or 

 quality, the chances are that the offspring will be so char- 

 acterized. This emphasizes the point that a pure-bred 

 animal may, because of unfavorable conditions, develop into 

 a very inferior individual, which will in turn transmit unde- 

 sirable characteristics to the progeny. A well-constituted 

 individual may have every indication of possessing prepotent 

 breeding qualities, yet some weakness occurring in its ances- 

 tors renders it unable to transmit the desirable individual 

 qualities. 



The only safe method to pursue in selecting breeding 

 animals is to pay strict attention to both of these factors. 

 Constructive breeders have been very ardent in correlating 

 these factors and the animals which they have succeeded 

 in producing are evidence of the wisdom of such a practice. 

 Amos Cruikshank, in developing the Scotch type of Short- 

 horn, did place special emphasis on the individual because 



