CHAPTER XIV. 



APPLICATION OF JUDGING AND SELECTION TO 

 BREEDING AND FINISHING FARM ANIMALS. 



Individual. The individual animal is the nucleus for 

 live stock improvement. This fact is evidenced by the 

 immense practical use which is being made of the pure-bred 

 sire in the improvement of herds and flocks of horses, cattle, 

 sheep and swine. Davenport quotes that the sire is half 

 the herd or even more. He is half of the first generation, 

 three-quarters of the next, seven-eighths of the third and 

 so on until, if judicious selection be maintained for a few 

 generations, the character of the herd will be fixed by the 

 sire alone. This emphasizes the fact that if the breeder 

 must choose between the selection of a pure-bred sire and a 

 number of varying females, in all cases the pure-bred sire 

 should be selected in preference to following the latter 

 course. This plan of breeding has direct application from 

 the standpoint of live stock judging and selection. Grant- 

 ing this statement, the sire can be made of much greater 

 importance by keener judging, closer selection and wider 

 usage on farm herds and flocks. 



Herd Improvement. Herd improvement is divided into 

 two fundamental divisions, namely, the breeding of pure- 

 bred and grade animals. In either case, the most careful 

 judging and selection will accomplish the most noticeable 

 results in a given time. The breeder who eliminates the 

 inferior individuals from the standpoint of individuality as 

 well as those which fail to respond satisfactorily to the 

 breeding test, must not only be a breeder in the general sense 

 of the term, but a judge of the highest order. If otherwise, 

 the maximum results obtainable from careful judging and 

 close selection will not materialize in the herd. The breeder, 

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