THE RURAt NEW-YORKER 
1119 
1913. 
IMPROVEMENT OF BREEDS THROUGH 
GRADING. 
Chapter XVII. of Davenport’s “Prin¬ 
ciples of Breeding” discusses the practi¬ 
cal value of grading in the improvement 
of farm stock, and as Prof. Davenport’s 
remarks in this connection are worthy of 
wider circulation among farmers than 
they can easily obtain in hook form, we 
give below in excerpts from this chapter 
the substance of his treatment of this 
topic. 
“By grading is meant the mating of a 
common or relatively unimproved parent 
with one that is more highly improved, 
that is, a purebred.” “The mating might 
be made either way, but in practice the 
male is taken for the purebred parent for 
economic reasons.” “One purebred bull 
with twenty cows can give all the calves 
in the herd a purebred sire (that is, 
make them half bloods), whereas if the 
making of the half bloods were attempted 
in the other way it would require 20 
purebred individuals.” “Expressed in 
terms of money, it is possible to give all 
the calves in the herd a purebred sire— 
that is, make them all half bloods—-at a 
total cost of approximately $2 per calf.” 
If the making of half blood calves were 
accomplished in the other way, however, 
—that is by providing the purebred par¬ 
ent on the dam’s side—it would cost at 
the same relative rate, close to .$40 as a 
minimum.” “This shows the necessarily 
extreme cost of purebreds as compared 
with grades.” 
“Improvement by grading is of course 
limited to herd improvement. It adds 
nothing to the breed, but it distributes 
breed excellence rapidly and with ex¬ 
treme certainty. Such a sire is almost 
surely prepotent over the dams, what- 
ever they may be, and the mathematics 
of mating shows that if the practice is 
continued for six generations, but 1% 
per cent of the original unimproved blood 
will remain. By this we see that the 
unimproved blood soon becomes insignifi¬ 
cant and rapidly disappears. This is 
why it is that in the early days of a 
breed the sixth or seventh cross is de¬ 
clared eligible to record.” “It should be 
noted that if any of these generations 
i)C bred with itself (grades with grades) 
no progress is made.” “The effects of 
grading cease the moment we discontinue 
the purebred sire.’ “The chief drawback 
in grading is that it is likely not to be 
followed up; the breeder is almost cer¬ 
tain to choose some promising half or 
three-quarter blood for a sire because he 
looks as good as a purebred, and then all 
improvement stops except the little that 
can be accomplished by the slow process 
of selection.” 
“For economic purposes grades may 
be equal to purebreds, but they are 
worthless for breeding purposes; this is 
the plain conclusion of what is well 
known of the principles of breeding. 
Grading is cheap. By the use of a sin¬ 
gle individual it secures at once some¬ 
thing more than half of the total excel¬ 
lence of the breed, and if followed up it 
will secure in time, through sires alone, 
practically all of it.” “This is the sys¬ 
tem of breeding to be recommended to 
the great mass of stockmen, and if it 
could be generally adopted, and followed 
up, it would add millions to American 
agriculture.” “The failure to make the 
most of grading is the largest single mis¬ 
take of American farmers and the most 
conclusive evidence of short-sighted busi¬ 
ness policy on the part both of the gen¬ 
eral farmer and of the breeder of pure¬ 
bred stock.” 
“When breeders themselves stop try¬ 
ing to set up amateurs who have little 
money and less experience with small 
herds of two or three females, then the 
longest step will have been taken toward 
reform in this particular. These pitifully 
inadequate efforts at breeding are fore¬ 
doomed to failure, after which the un¬ 
fortunate farmer, smarting under the 
punishment hi- suffered by reason of his 
spasm . of enthusiasm for better stock, 
forthwith and forever curses not only the 
breed that ‘let him down,’ but blooded 
stock generally and breeders in particu¬ 
lar.” 
“The professional breeder is a pro¬ 
ducer of sires, and he should sell males, 
not females. He should take the amateur 
kindly into his confidence and explain 
that while In- himself is in the business 
for profit, and his animals are for sale, 
yet he fully realizes that grading is the 
breeding for beginners. lit* can easily 
show the novice that if he will keep his 
old females, he can have as many grades 
within a year as he can provide females 
now, and that speedily he will own a 
herd that for all practical purposes, ex¬ 
cept breeding, will be as good as any¬ 
body’s, all at a cost of only two or three 
dollars per calf. Such a course will 
demonstrate at once the excellence of the 
breed, and make friends, not enemies, of 
the man and his neighbors.” 
“The female output of our breeding 
herds should be used, first, to reinforce 
the home herds, and after that to supply 
deficiencies in other reputable herds. 
Any further surplus animals should go to 
the open market, except in some rare case 
in which they ar» needed for the real 
founding of new herds. The main diffi¬ 
culty is that the breeders as a rule are 
too intent upon selling females and set¬ 
ting up a multitude of little breeders in 
a small business; whereas they should be 
not only intent but persistent in selling 
males for grading purposes. This is their 
great market, their natural outlet, and 
its exploitation is their opportunity.” 
“Grading is the safest beginning, even 
for the prospective breeder of purebred 
stock. Not only is it cheap and safe, 
but it will bring out clear and strong in 
the grades the main breed points, and a 
few generations of grades, from low to 
high, will spread out before the eyes of 
the breeder such a panorama of breed 
characters as he would not see in years 
of pure breeding on a small scale; indeed 
there is no quicker, cheaper, or more 
thorough way of becoming acquainted 
with a breed than through its grades. 
The only disadvantage that can be men¬ 
tioned is this, that the first results are 
so eminently satisfactory that some prom¬ 
ising grade is likely to he selected as a 
sire, regardless of the law of ancestral 
heredity, ~whereupon all further improve¬ 
ment stops. This is so likely to be the 
case that it may be said in general that 
the very success of grading is the great¬ 
est guaranty of its failure.” m. b. d. 
Preparing Poultry for Exhibition. 
Professor Lunn. of the Oregon College, 
gives the following advice about show 
birds. 
“In preparing fowls for the show it is 
necessary to wash the white-colored birds 
about four days before they are shipped. 
Use three tubs. The first should be half 
full o? warm water, the second tub of 
luke-warm water, and the last tub with 
water from which the chill has been re¬ 
moved. Put the fowl into the first tub 
and hold it under water until the plumage 
is soaked. The head may be held under 
a moment or two. Place the fowl on a 
clean tabie and thoroughly soap with a 
good white soap. The plumage is now 
ready to be scrubbed, which is done gently 
with a small brush, in the direction the 
feathers grow. The bird is then rinsed 
in the second tub. removing all the soap 
so that the feathers will webb out prop¬ 
erly. The legs should be scrubbed and if 
necessary the dirt under the scales re¬ 
moved with a toothpick. 
“The third tub is used for the final 
rinsing. If bluing is nsed in this water 
there should be not too much of it. and 
it must be thoroughly mixed with the 
water or it will stain the plumage. The 
feathers are dried by hand, rubbed with 
towels, and the bird placed in a well- 
heated room until thoroughly dried. It 
should then be placed in a clean coop 
with four or five inches of chaff on the 
floor so that the feathers will not be 
soiled. Dark-colored birds may have their 
plumage rubbed with a silk handkerchief 
and their legs washed as above. Now 
train them to handling and to exhibition 
coops. Stroke and speak to them as this 
will make them pose better when the 
judge is looking them over. 
"In shipping, the coops should be large 
enough to give the fowl ample room, 
about 30 inches for the tallest birds, 
grading down to a foot for the tiniest 
bantams. The comb should never touch ! 
the top of the coop. The width should be 
such that the plumage will not be 
cramped. A single coop should be pro¬ 
vided for each male, but females may be 
placed two or three together. A little 
grain may be sprinkled in thv chaff, but 
it is not best to put drinking water in the 
coop. A few vegetables or apples will 
answer the place of water very well and 
will not soil the plumage. It is not neces¬ 
sary to put grit or other food than grain 
in the coop.” 
Arrangement of Poultry Plant. 
Can you refer me to any books or bul¬ 
letins upon the best arrangement of 
buildings on a commercial poultry plant? 
I have literature in regard to construc¬ 
tion of various buildings, but not as to 
general layout.^ I have just bought a 
piece of land (7% acres) sloping slightly 
toward the south. The residence will 
face west and be at the northwest corner 
of the property. The incubators will be 
in cellar of residence. The brooder 
house will be heated with gas. G. T. r. 
Vineland, N. J. 
I know of no books or bulletins that 
would be of any special value to you in 
arranging your poultry plant, as each lo¬ 
cation has its own advantages and dis¬ 
advantages and must be treated upon its 
own merits. Only general principles can 
be stated and their application to the spe¬ 
cial case must be made on the ground. 
Buildings should be so located as to econ¬ 
omize space and labor. Your laying 
house should be convenient of access to 
your dwelling and your feed storage, as 
well as to the water supply. It should 
be high and dry and if the protection of 
any natural wind break can be obtained, 
so much the better. It is well to locate 
it so that two yards may be used alter¬ 
nately. A southern or southeastern ex¬ 
posure is best, and the natural drainage 
should be away from the house. Build¬ 
ings may usually be located upon a part 
of the land least suited to tillage and the 
best part kept free for crops. Proximity 
to the dwelling house is some protection 
against thieves and a convenience when 
paths must be shoveled in the Winter. 
Your pencil sketch looks all right so far 
as one cau judge without seeing the 
grounds, though perhaps moving the lay¬ 
ing house a little farther north will save 
a waste of land between it and your 
north line. m. b. d. 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 333 West 30th Street, New York 
