Page:The Scientific Monthly vol. 3.djvu/35
THE ANIMAL-BREEDING INDUSTRY
29
TABLE vni
Prices Kbatjctp at Auction Sales or Pedigreed Beet Cattle
Name of Breed
Short-horn
Hereford
Aberdeen-Angus. . . .
Galloway
PoOed Durham
EedPoU
1912
No. of Sales
45
15
12 I
• • •
2 1
No. Sold
1.882 957 627
■ • •
83 30
At. Piloe
$177.40 180.40 138.95
• •••••
132.85 107.25
1011
No. of Salee
53 19 13
No. Sold
2.258
1,203
723
• • •
42
At. Price
$162.50 160.50 143.60
• ■••••
140.60
1010
No. of Sales
49
20
19
1
3
1
No. Sold
1,999
1.214
995
67
74
41
Av. Price
$187.50 146.20 167.85 83^0 115.00 185.00
Name of Breed
Short-horn
Hereford
Aberdeen-AngUB
Galloviay
Polled Durham . Red PoU
1000
No. of
78
25
18
2
2
3
No. Sold
3.308
1.398
935
69
79
35
At. Price
$159.00 127.05 189.00 128.05 129.45 97.80
1008
No. of Salee
59
15
18
3
6
1
No. Sold
2.689 936 955 136 244 3
At. Price
$146.50 116.15 165.10
84.50 124.50
50.00
1907
No. of Salee
84
29
18
3
3
3
No. Sold
3.60^
1.358
1.119
123
106
97
At. Price
$160.15 123.70 134.75 139.05 130.35 83.00
- No puUio sales reported.
do if it "breeds true/' It obviously could not be expected to breed true if at frequent intervals it were crossed with other types. The breed- ing of individuals all of the same general type^ and belonging to a few family liues^ could be safely left to the individual breeder in the earlier days of the industry. With the wider development of the industry this was no longer possible. It became necessary to have an official regis- tration of pedigrees^ which should be beyond any chance of manipulation by the breeder. In this way one wishing to purchase an animal of a particular breed would have definite and objective evidence that the iu- dividual was^ in f act^ of the breed it was supposed to be.
Out of this need have grown the systems of pedigree registration in herd-books^ stud-books and the like. In certain countries at the present time these registry records have an enhanced official status^ because they are under governmental control and supervision. In the United States the control of live-stock registration is in some degree supervised by the Bureau of Animal Industry of the federal Department of Agriculture, particularly so far as concerns the registration of imported animals.
Under this system of pedigree registration an animal is regarded as '* pure bred '* if both its sire and dam are recorded in one of the officially recognized books of registration. ITo further biological criterion is de- manded. A strict biological interpretation of the words "pure bred would exclude many animals which are registered under the present i^tem. The biological conception of hereditary "purity" has become much refined in recent years, and it now appears that the term " pure