STUD BOOKS. 33 



of the system to all such hreeds as it does 

 not yet emhrace. Indeed, the ever-increasing 

 demand for specimens of the purest strains 

 in all hranches of agricultural and " fancy " 

 stock renders such extension a logical out- 

 come of the present age. 



The advantages of such a system are 

 obvious. Our Stud, Herd, and Mock Books 

 are of the greatest possible assistance to 

 breeders ; alike in directing them to the 

 source of the purest blood, and enabling 

 them to test by an infallible process the 

 pretensions of animals offered to supply their 

 needs. This depends, of course, upon the 

 absolute fidelitv with which such books are 

 kept, and the strict exckision of all animals 

 which cannot trace their derivation from 

 registered parents. That such rigour will 

 cause the occasional rejection of animals 

 superior in every respect, save that of un- 

 blemished or proven descent, to some of those 

 admitted is a matter of course ; • but, being 



3 



