General Principles of Live-stock Production 29 



words, to convert feed into flesh. The general science of 

 reproduction is indicated under the head of "animal 

 breeding" and the converting of feed into flesh and fat 

 as "nutrition." The science of breeding is too extended 

 to take up in this brief space. The essential point which 

 must always be observed is the old law of, "like begets 

 like": that is, that good breeding stock produces good 

 offspring, and that poor breeding stock produces poor 

 offspring, subject of course to many variations, as the 

 offspring is seldom the exact duplicate of the parents. 

 There are many mysteries connected with breeding, but 

 from the standpoint of th^ practical man on the farm, 

 the whole procedure is really based on the one proposition 

 of "like begets like." The difference between the suc- 

 cessful breeder and the unsuccessful breeder lies largely 

 in the ability of the successful man to know and to judge 

 accurately the kind of stock which he wants to produce, 

 whereas the failure of the other is largely in his inability 

 to decide accurately the kind of stock which he wishes. 

 In other words,' it is largely a question of judging, and of 

 knowing the live-stock. Good breeders are good judges, 

 and the farmer or ranchman who wishes to be a suc- 

 cessful breeder must first of all become an expert judge. 

 All the science in the world will not make a successful 

 breeder of a poor judge. On the other hand many good 

 judges have been successful breeders without great sci- 

 entific knowledge of breeding and often, in fact, handi- 

 capped by more than useless superstitions. 



NUTRITION 

 Nutrition includes all the processes by which food ma- 

 terial is converted into flesh and fat. The science of 

 breeding is concerned with the increase in numbers of 



