1907.] Registration of Stallions in Wisconsin. 685 



With a view to the improvement of horse-breeding in Wis- 

 consin, the Legislature of that State has recently adopted a system 

 for the registration of stallions, by which 



^^o^i^^^?.^^^^ every person keeping- a stallion for profit is 

 of Stallions . \ , . . 



in Wisconsin. i*equirea to obtam a licence-certificate from 



the Department of Agriculture. In order 

 to obtain this certificate the owner, besides furnishing the pedi- 

 gree, &c., of the animal, has to declare on oath that the stallion 

 is, to the best of his knowledge, free from hereditary, contagious 

 or transmissible unsoundness or disease, or else to furnish a cer- 

 tificate of soundness signed by a qualified veterinary surgeon. 

 The law only came into force in January, 1906, so that sufficient 

 time has not yet elapsed for the benefits of the system to be 

 apparent, but it is said* to have had a valuable effect in direct- 

 ing the attention of farmers to the importance of using sound 

 sires. New departures and improvements in old-established in- 

 dustries come by education rather than by the enforcement of 

 stringent legal measures, and the law was regarded to a large 

 extent as educational. Owners were given the privilege of either 

 making an affidavit of the soundness of their horses or obtaining 

 a veterinary certificate, as it was thought that this plan would at 

 least draw attention to the importance of soundness in breeding 

 animals, eliminate some of the unsound sires, emphasize the 

 need of sound brood mares, and, in time, lead to more stringent 

 and effectual methods of examination. The law has already 

 had beneficial results by retiring from service upwards of one 

 hundred unsound stallions, and by provoking discussion on the 

 subject. The average farmer, however, shows little disposition to 

 patronize the pure-bred stallion in place of the common non- 

 pedigree animal, so long as a higher service fee is charged for the 

 pure-bred than for the other horse. 



A number of suggestions are made with a view to improving 

 the present law : for instance, as no provision is made for the 

 renewal of the licence-certificates, it proposed that they should 

 be required to be re-issued annually or biennially. The adoption 

 of a list of diseases to be considered " hereditary, transmissible, 

 or communicable" is recommended, and the provision of a 

 system of State veterinary inspection. 



* University of Wisconsin, Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin 141. 



