244 Western Live-stock Management 



Either is useless without the other. In this improvement 

 we see the outlook for the future. The pure-bred sire 

 is needed at the head of every commercial herd of stock. 

 Stockmen have depended on the pure-bred for the im- 

 provenient that has been wrought in the past, and this 

 improvement has now furnished a type of animal that 

 more nearly meets the demand of the market and the 

 requirements of economic production. The maximum 

 of improvement has not been reached and with the im- 

 provement yet to come we will have to depend on the pure- 

 bred sire. Grades are good simply because they trace 

 back to animals that were pure-bred, and which have 

 given them their better type. Mongrels and scrubs lack 

 breeding, and therefore lack type. There are also some 

 types that might be termed "scrub pure-breds." These 

 animals are not needed because their only prepotency is 

 along the lines of the scrub tj'pe. Coupled with improve- 

 ment which must come by the use of better sires, there 

 must also be the improvement that comes by better 

 methods of management. In the correlation of these 

 facts lies the permanence of the horse industry. 



NUMBERS AND VALUES 



The numbers of horses and mules in the United States 

 have practically doubled in the last fifteen years. The 

 number is now approximately 25,000,000. In the last 

 five years of the period mentioned there has been no great 

 change, but in the first ten years the increase was very 

 rapid. This increase in horse production was propor- 

 tionately faster than the increase in the population, and 

 this may be a reason why there is at present an apparent 

 standstill in regard to the numbers. The automobile 



