Animal breeding / by Laurence M. Winters.

  • Winter, Laurence Merriam, 1891-
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: Animal breeding / by Laurence M. Winters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    2 INTRODUCTION sires, more than the use of good individuals, and more than the use of individuals possessing good breeding. It is unfortunately true that entirely too many purebreds have masked under the disguise of being something apart and different because ot their having a pedigree. Too often the good individual is a disappointment as a breeder, and too often the well-bred individual is a disappointment both as an individual and as a breeder. Animal breeding attempts to account for these disappointments. It seeks to explain and lay down general rules whereby animal improvement may be accomplished. Genetics serves as a foundation for the subject of animal breeding. As defined by Jones,^ ''Genetics deals with the changes which take place from generation to generation and the means by which features and traits are reproduced in different animals. By investigation, genetics seeks to account for differences and similarities among individuals springing from related and unrelated stocks. In order that the student may reach a clear understanding of the subject, genetics should be made prerequisite to the study of eugenics and of both plant and animal breeding, for these are but applied genetics. The student who would profit most from the study of animal breeding should first become familiar with the subject of genetics. The subject matter of this book has been so arranged as to permit its use as a companion volume to Genetics in Plant and Animal Breeding. A certain amount of over¬ lapping will be found in the two texts. This could not be eliminated, since a reasonably rounded exposition of the sub¬ ject must be given to the student who has not had the oppor¬ tunity to take the introductory course. Moreover, it seemed necessary to explain clearly the principles of genetics to the stock breeder who has had no preliminary training 1 Jones, D. F., Genetics in Plant and Animal Improvements, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1925.