

BULLETIN 247. 



REPORT OF THE FIRST JERSEY SIRES' FUTURITY 



TEST OF THE AROOSTOOK JERSEY 



BREEDERS' ASSOCIAION. 



Raymond Pearl. 



The Value oe Sires' Futurity Tests. 



Some readers may wonder what relation such a Sires' Futu- 

 rity Test as that discussed in this report has to the investiga- 

 tional work of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station 

 along cattle breeding lines. Superficially it might be supposed 

 that the only value of such a Sires' Futurity Test was in : is 

 advertising worth to the winning party. In the judgment of 

 the writer of this report such a conclusion would be very far 

 from the truth. On the contrary, it is believed that such Sires' 

 Futurity Tests as that here reported have in them possibilities 

 of very great value for the improvement of live stock. Just 

 what the nature of these possibilities is will be set forth briefly 

 in the following paragraphs. 



Certainly a most significant result which has come out of 

 the investigations in animal breeding which have been carried 

 on by the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station during the 

 past eight years is that which has demonstrated that the only 

 certain test of the breeding worth of an individual in breeding 

 for performance is the progeny test. This is true whether one 

 is dealing with egg production in poultry, or milk production 

 in cattle. In the present state of knowledge certainly (and 

 probably the same will always be true) it is not possible to 

 make any sure prediction either from the appearance of an 

 animal alone as to whether its progeny will be uniformly high 

 producers of milk, eggs, or whatever other qualities we are 

 seeking. The only certain way to test this is by measuring the 

 performance of the progeny. This is the same principle which 

 has proven so fruitful in plant breeding work. 



