PRINCIPLES OF LIVESTOCK BREEDING. * 53 
It is evident from what has been said that it is an exceedingly diffi- 
cult thing to be able to judge quickly and accurately the amount which 
a certain pedigree adds to or subtracts from the value of an animal 
as an individual. A very detailed knowledge of breed history, recent 
and past, is necessary, as well as good judgment. The past history 
can be learned in part from standard books on the breeds, while the 
recent history, which is more important, can be best acquired by 
following' the results at the great shows and sales for a few years and 
keeping in touch with the current breed journals. The pedigree of 
any purebred can easily be obtained from the herd, flock, or studbook. 
The best method of writing a pedigree for the purpose of study is 
that given for Amos Cruikshank's famous Shorthorn bull, Roan 
Gauntlet, in the tabulation shown. All the ancestors for a number of 
generations are shown in their proper relations to each other. Any 
line breeding in the pedigree is at once brought out. In the case of 
Roan Gauntlet the accompanying form shows that he traces in every 
line to a mating of Mr. Cruikshank's great bull, Champion of England, 
with a daughter or granddaughter of Lord Raglan. 
The other common method of writing pedigrees is given for Roan 
Gauntlet below the full tabulation. The dam, her dam, and so on 
in the straight female line, are named in the first column. Opposite 
each female is written the name of her sire. It is very common in 
this form to add the name of the breeder after each animal, a practice 
which, as already noted, is often of value in giving significance to 
otherwise unknown names. To the breeder who is thoroughly 
acquainted with the leading sires in his breed, their own merit and 
that of their progeny, the names of the three or four males at the top 
of the column may be sufficient for a very satisfactory estimate of the 
value of the pedigree. Unfortunately, this form of pedigree is likely 
to lead to undue weight being placed on the female line of ancestry. 
Owing to their smaller numbers, the sires are in general superior to 
the dams both in breeding and as individuals. Thus the straight 
female line is apt to be the weakest in the whole pedigree. Direction 
of attention to this line has merely the somewhat negative justifica- 
tion that if it is good the whole pedigree is likely to be good. 
The amount of information necessary for weighing properly the 
value of a pedigree is so great that a large number of men arrive at 
their conclusions by some short cut. The usual short cut in this case 
is the basing of values on family names, assigned to animals in a 
more or less arbitrary way. If the families really represented closely 
bred lines — breeds within breeds — this would be satisfactory, but that 
is seldom the case. In some breeds, the family name applies to all 
the descendants through the straight female line from some particular 
female. The second form of pedigree described above has the unfor- 
tunate effect of appearing to sanction this system. After a few gen- 
