114 THE COW 



to transmit his characters to his offspring. To 

 this power the biologist gives the name "pre- 

 potency." This power or ability varies greatly in 

 different individuals and the history of breeding 

 is really a chronicle of the influence of certain 

 famous sires who have been prepotent to an un- 

 usual degree. It would be easy to multiply classi- 

 cal examples of this fact. There is the Jersey bull, 

 Stoke Pogis 3d, sacrificed for beef while still young 

 before his value was realized, yet it is said that 

 every daughter of his that ever was tested made a 

 record that would have entitled her to admission 

 to the Jersey Register of Merit. There is the 

 stallion Hambletonian 10 who, during a period of 

 twenty-one years, was the progenitor of 1287 foals, 

 a large percentage of which were notably fast. 

 This was true not only of Hambletonian himself 

 but of his sons as well, so that by common consent 

 he stands unapproached as the foremost horse in 

 the history of the American trotter. 



It is this mysterious quality of prepotency that 

 above everything else is to be desired in the sire. 

 Unfortunately not every pure-bred animal pos- 

 sesses it, but there is abundant evidence to show 

 that the animal which for a long period has been 

 bred within certain blood lines without admixture 

 of diverse strains is more likely to be prepotent. 

 On the other hand, the cross-bred or native or 

 mongrel may be and frequently is of excellent in- 

 dividuality, but they are surely much less likely 



