CHAPTER VI 



Organizing a Good Sales Pedigree 



While the construction of a good sales pedigree does not belong 

 primarily to a course devoted chiefly to a study of breeding principles, 

 the fact that success in a commercial sense is so largely dependent on 

 the legitimate exploitation of all surplus breeding stock justifies the 

 inclusion of this subject. Furthermore, the purchaser's proper 

 evaluation of such a pedigree for the breeding worth of the animal 

 in question requires a knowledge of how such pedigrees are con- 

 structed and the weight to be attached to the information given in 

 them. In this sense the construction of such a pedigree furnishes 

 a good ground work, to direct the student's attention to specific 

 problems of breeding. 



The first step in commercial pedigree work is to trace the pedigree 

 of the animal in the manner shown in the previous exercise. The 

 next step is to add the records for production. The following in- 

 formation should be given for each bull. 



A. Number of record daughters. 



B. Citation of records of some of the daughters featuring those which are 



best. 



C. Number of proven sons (sons who in turn have record daughters). 



D. Citation of records of some of the best of the proven sons' record 



daughters. 



E. Number of proven granddaughters and their exceptional records. 



F. Records of the dam and granddam, when commendable. 



G. Records of brothers or sisters, if striking. 



H. Records of other famous ancestors which would tend to enhance the 

 value of the animal pedigreed. 



For the cow similar records are given, including first her own 

 record. 



The present custom seems to require that all animals in the pedi- 

 gree up to the fourth generation have some citation to records which 

 would indicate their merit. The hardest pedigree to make attrac- 

 tive is the one in which the ancestors have few available records. 



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