IMPORTANCE OF KEEN JUDGING AND SELECTION 19 



ducer of market animals. These two special phases of ani- 

 mal improvement have opened two distinct fields for work 

 and consequently a need for definitely arranged information 

 on the subject. 



Importance of Keen Judging and Selection. — The rapid 

 development of the live stock industry for special productive 

 purposes and for farm land improvement makes it not only 

 desirable but profitable to have a thorough knowledge of live 

 stock judging and selection. The importance of this state- 

 ment can be more fully realized after becoming acquainted 

 with the magnitude and monetary value of the industry. 

 The loss from an individual animal through inferior breeding, 

 careless selection, or improper feeding may be small, and 

 therefore not seriously afi'ect the breeder or owner. If 

 this loss was occasioned, however, in a large herd over a 

 long period of years, it would mean the loss of a substantial 

 sum. Considering that faults in animal form can be largely 

 overcome by wise judging and selection without entailing 

 any appreciable additional outlay of money, the importance 

 of the subject should be doubly emphasized or appreciated. 

 The decrease in the finished weight of fat cattle at nine of the 

 leading live stock markets in 1912 shows an average shortage 

 of 18 pounds per head. Based on the total number of animals 

 shipped to these markets, there was a total decrease of 

 144,793,620 pounds of beef. This loss could have been 

 largely overcome by either closer selection or better methods 

 of feeding. While other causes may have been responsible 

 for the condition, it serves to illustrate the importance of 

 keen judging and selection. Based on all the cattle slaugh- 

 tered for a period of ten or twenty years the figures would be 

 almost insurmountable. 



It would be even more important to remedy the defects of 

 the breeding animal than in the market animal because the 

 former would continue to reproduce the undesirable char- 

 acteristics. This factor of inferiority would be of great 

 importance, however, even in market animals for the lack 

 of only a few pounds 'gain, due either to faulty selection or 

 feeding of the individual, would mean a large loss in the 

 aggregate. 



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