THE BREEDING OP ANIMALS, IN GENERAL 89 



sexual organization controls the characters of the offspring; 

 the female controls the characters because of her close asso- 

 ciation with the offspring; and so on, almost without number. 

 So far as is now known, the parents play an equal part in 

 their control of the characters of the offspring. This, of course, 

 is aside from the question of prepotency discussed above, and 

 in which case either parent is hkely to dominate over the 

 other. In general, that parent possessed of the purer breeding 

 and whose characters are the most intensified and most stable, 

 will control the characters of the offspring, be it male or 

 female. 



SYSTEMS OF BREEDING 



The system of breeding to be employed will depend on 

 the purpose of the breeder. In the breeding of farm animals 

 the breeder has one of two objects in view, — the one herd im- 

 provement, the other breed improvement. These purposes are 

 separate and distinct. In herd improvement, the object is the 

 betterment of the individual herd. It is perhaps the cheapest 

 and most convenient of all forms of breeding and productive 

 of the most rapid results. In breed improvement, the object 

 is the betterment of the entire race. It is perhaps the most 

 expensive, and calls for much inteUigence on the part of the 

 breeder as well as much patience and painstaking labor .^ 



Grading consists in mating unimproved farm animals with 

 those more highly improved or with those that are purely 

 bred. The pure-bred may be either sire or dam, but for eco- 

 nomic reasons the sire is usually the pure-bred parent. This 

 mode of breeding can be used only in herd improvement, and is 

 the one to be recommended to the great mass of stockmen ; and 

 if it could be generally adopted and followed, it would add 

 millions to American agriculture. It is the safest for beginners 

 even though they intend to engage in the business of breeding 

 pure-bred animals, as it will bring out clearly the strong and 

 weak points of the breed, and after becoming familiar with the 



