PRINCIPLES OF LIVESTOCK BREEDING. 



61 



sistent grading to one pure breed are perhaps rather in obtaining 

 uniformity of color and type than in efficiency of pork production. 

 In many parts of the country, however, there is still much room for 

 improvement in the fundamental qualities. 



Sheep breeding is complicated by the simultaneous selection for 

 wool and mutton. Each of the breeds produces its own characteristic 

 kind of wool. Any desired fineness or length of fiber which is found 

 in a pure breed can easily be fixed in common stock by grading up. 

 As regards mutton, the same principles apply as in beef production. 

 The same qualities have been fixed in the middle and long-wool 

 breeds of sheep as in the beef breeds of cattle. 



Fig. 21.— The same Piney- Woods ewe as in 

 figure 19, showing the lack of wool on the 

 abdomen. Total wool clip, 3 pounds. 



Fig. 22. — First cross between Piney-Woods 

 ewe and a purebred ram, showing wool on ab- 

 domen. Total clip, 8 pounds. 



BREEDING AND SOUNDNESS IN HORSES. 



The hereditary differences among the breeds of horses are more 

 conspicuous than in any other kind of livestock. Differences in 

 weight, speed, and conformation are fairly well fixed in the pure breeds, 

 but, of course, unfixed in scrubs. The effect of a cross with a given 

 pure breed can be predicted, at least in a rough way, but no predictions 

 are of value in case the stallion is a scrub. Of the greatest importance 

 for any kind of horse are good feet and legs. Scrub stallions, even 

 if apparently sound themselves, are more likely to transmit unsound- 

 ness than stallions of the pure breeds, especially if the latter are 

 known to come from sound stock. There is, perhaps, less excuse 



