CHAPTEE TWENTY-NINE. 



MATTER OF PEDIGREES. 



This is a matter that does not greatly interest the farmer 

 or feeder who is growing hogs simply for the open market, 

 but must be understood, and thoroughly so, by the breeder 

 of registered hogs who expects to sell a large portion of 

 his produce to other breeders. A pedigree amounts to 

 nothing unless it is a correct record of the different blood 

 lines in the sire and dam taken from the established records 

 for the breed. The pedigree in itself adds no value to the in- 

 dividuality of the animal but it is a means of noting the 

 various blood lines that has produced the animal. Neither 

 is a pedigree of any value unless it is made by a man who 

 would under no circumstance write in other than the correct 

 names of animals, with their herd book numbers. A 

 man who would make a false pedigree would do anything 

 else false that came to his mind and should not last long 

 as a breeder of pure bred hogs of any breed. In other 

 words the pedigree should be a guarantee that only such 

 animals were used in producing the particular indi- 

 vidual, as really were used. 



One who is well versed in the scientific principles of 

 breeding pure bred animals, and familiar with the value 

 of the different blood lines of the breed, can by study- 

 ing the pedigree of the animal he purchases to head his 

 herd, know practically what the results Will be from 

 using him. The more animals that appear in the pedi- 

 gree that have made good as producers of superior 

 stock, the better the pedigree and the more valuable it 

 becomes as a guarantee for future quality in the herd; 

 hence it is of great importance that the owner of a high 

 class breeding herd, who wishes to continually improve 

 the quality of his herd, study carefully the pedigree of any 

 new animal that he wishes to introduce as the head of 

 his herd. It is a well known fact, however, that there are 



