ANIMAL BREEDING
Sut,—Mr. Frank Sykes' admirable and informative outline of the salient problems confronting livestock improvers concludes with a reference to the Royal Agricultural Society's part in the encouragement of animal breed- ing a hundred years ago. He suggests that the Society should ask itself whether the standards governing the exhibition of stock at its annual show are not "out-of-date. May I say that the Society has already taken steps to develop the belief (long since expressed in milking and butter-fat trials at the "Royal") that performance must be linked to pedigree in animal breeding. The Society hasrin fact, decided that, at its show next year, and at subsequent shows, entries of dairy and dual-purpose cattle will be restricted to those of a minimum standard of performance. Standards will be set for each breed and will cover both females that have produced milk and, in the case of young stock and bulls, with credentials of "milk pedigrees." Even at the "Royal" at Lincoln this year (July) performance factors will so influence judgement as to make it impossible for certain animals to be exhibited unless they have achieved certified minimum
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