SHARPENING THE POINT IN SELECTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3338, 6 March 1918, Page 11

SHARPENING THE POINT IN SELECTION.

By Pbofessob E. N. Wentwoeth:

Selection has been the greatest agent in the permanent improvement of live stock. In fact, _ one might consider it tho; onlyagent, since tho improvement that liaa come through better care has been of advantage to the immediate generation alone. The. greater fleshing or size that has been possible as a result of -skilful feeding and management is almost absolutely non-here-ditary. Inquiry into tho success of famous animal breeders indicates that their position has come about either through the accidental discovery of a famous animal or because they intuitively were able to see more than 'their colleagues in their live stock. The best breeder has invariably been the best judge, simply because he recognised in his animal possibilities hidden from the average man. Precision in selection for the ordinary breeder has been a matter of evolution; the cruder standards of selection of the first live stock supporters eventually became sufficiently refined to be of use even to the stockman lacking the true selective instinct. The moment when man first began to apply the "like begets like" principle is doubtful. Certainly he had discovered it before history began, as the earliest records contain suggestions of mating together animals of the desired .type. Yet, in spite of the years, civilisation has not made the lesson apparent to many modern farmers, as a survey of the scrub stallion, bull, boar, and ram situation in many of the most progressive localities shows. The purpose of selection, expressed technically, is to narrow the field of variability in a given family or strain, so that tho progeny of such a strain shall be of a uniform type. Selection practised on pre-sent-day live stock has its effect on the animals of the future, for to-day one works with the ancestors of coming generations. It is difficult to realise just how effective is this selection. A pedigree study in the most improved breeds proves fairly convincing about five generations back, since at that time only about 5 per cent, of tho registered animals of the breed then in existence lie in the direct line of ancestry from the best blood-lines of the present. A selection that reduces breeding stock 95 per cent, in five generations is far more stringent 'than the average breeder realises. In fact, the interweaving of blood lines in supposedly non-inbred animals is beyond the comprehension of either breeder or scientist, except when presented in some" numerical way, such as by means of percentages. Historically, the first most obvjous step in selection was to choose animals on the basis of individual merit. Superficially, it is evident that if one wishes good colts he should select good stallions and mares. But 'this does not tell the whole story. On many occasions very superior animals have produced on the average an inferior offspring, while less frequently relatively common animals have produced a high tyj>e of progeny. It is a significant fact that only a very few of tho champion beef females at the International and American Roya/ have produced champions a't the samo showsj but it is perhaps no more significant than that Lady-in-Waiting, a good Shorthorn cow, but by no means a showjard champion, should have produced so many winning sons that sold at such

#igh prices. At the 1908 International four sons of Whitehall Sultan clashed for honours in the aged bull class of the Shorthorn breed. That the judges finally ranked them Whitehall King, Whitehall Marshall, Glenbrook Sultan, and Avondale represented their opinion of the individual merit of the four bulls; but it in no wise presented the whole story, as history shows j that Avondale belonged at the top as a j transmitter of beef character. This introduces the second idea that man, as • a live-stock breeder, was forced to learn: the idea 'that there is much more | to an animal than appears on the surface. Since the individual merit of the animal does not indicate all the transmissible characters that the animal possesses; in other words, since some hereditary characters lie latent or recessive in the animal's make-up, some .means become necessary to learn what these dormant possibilities might be. Originally intended as a mere record of good animals and their descendants, the purebred registry books became a veritable mine of information in this connection for the experienced breeder, and the knowledge I of the weaknesses and strong points in the ! ancestors of any given animal gave an | excellent idea of the qualities that might I lie hidden within its germinal tissue. With these weapons, and practically 'these alone, j the meat-making breed make a phenomenal advance. But domestio animals are bred for two purposes: what they are and what they can do. It early became evident that 'the knowledge supplied by the two foregoing means was only approximate when racing horses or dairy cows were considered. Some of the early authorities discoursed quite learnedly on> "Correlation, or Form, as Related to Function"; but, unfortunately, most of their ideas were not drawn from experiment. _ Observation furnished many of their opinions, and j deduction furnished the remainder; hence it did not take 'the dairy breeder and the trotting horse man long to learn that they were being told only part of the story. Out of the confusion that resulted aroso the per-. formancG standard, and to John H. Wallace, and the late Solomon Hoxie may be given the credit for developing the methods whereby both standard-bred and dairy cow respectively have made the enormous strides in advancement that have occurred in the last half-century. Possibly no other mechanical means will ever be developed that will give a finer edge to selection on an individual basis than the advanced register and the trotting standard. But beginning back with the masters, ; and gradually, although slowly, developing during the intervening years, another method of selecting sires and dams has ' arisen, which, while it has not proved popular with the average breeder, has been at the foundation of practically every significant advance. The principle of the tried sire is referred to.- Because it takes time

to learn of one's success by this method, and because of the impatience of many breeders for quick results, 'the method has not been so popular and widespread as it deserves. Even the scientists were slow to recognise its efficacy. At the time that Darwin was giving point to a lifetime of observations in his evolution theory, a ; modest Austrian monk was putting into j practice a principle that has become worldfamous under his name. Mendel's Law, a principal that Thomas Bates, Hugh .Watson, and other of tho early sagres of husbandry had long before recognised. But because Mendel acquainted tho scientific world with the progeny test, and because ho used it in such a way that it threw light on the mechanics of heredity, name, and fame as originator of the experimental method of breeding will go down to history as his. Tho reason whv Mendel's Law has not revolutionised the live-stock breeding, as many of its devotees at one time predicted, is that the live-stock breeder had adopted so many •of the features that could be of practical advantage in live stock improvement that to his art Mendelism was a simple matter of words. True, his interpretations of his results differed from those advanced by 'the scientists: but, with few exceptions, the practices had been ■ incorporated into the breeding art. What could be more logical fehan_ that j tho best way to learn what is hidden away in tho treasury of inheritance of the leading breeds of live stock is to study their progeny and see what is transmitted? And yet, all things considered, how infre- j qucntly is it done! Stockman after stockman passes up the tested bulls and stallions of his community, the boars and the ' rams that have made good, because through the advance in value due to growth and development from sdol to lOOdol profit may result. They ignore completely the cer- j tainties of a desirable and valuable pro- \ go ty from a proved parent. _ In part this is due to the speculative spirit inherent in ; so many, the tendency to tako a chance: j but no real student of chance could help : but admit 'that .the man who works with known quantities is much more certain of j success than the man who gambles with j the unknown.

On the progeny test was based the success of Hambletonian, George Wilks, Electioneer, and the other eight in the galaxy of famous sons that established the American trotter. On the progeny test is based at least half of the advancement made in dairy breeding, because it is the eiro' with proved daughters to which the dairy husbandman breeds. On the progeny test was based the great discoveries of Dr Pearl in his standardisation of the methods of in-

heritance of laying power in the domestic hen, and the remarkable improvement ho hae sinoo effected in the general flook at the Maine Experiment. Station. Knowledge and precision of selection have resulted wherever 'the progeny test has been applied. To date it represents the means man has for live-stock improvement, and the realisation of its promise -is limited only by the extent to which 'the practical breeder will. adopt it and apply it intelligently. The function of tho leader hae always been to point the way. As each master has made his contribution to animal breeding he has been hailed as a wizard. But each ha 3 shown that success depends on 'the application of common sense, and. has given to the world that simple point in selection on which his fortune rested. In the beginning it took the master 'to succeed. To-day, as a result; of his wisdom: and counsel, his secrets- may become the property of tho diligent, and success in selection--, ie reasonably assured fco any earnest and adaptable husbandman.