Abstract In a model of confinement similar to the massive quark model, we take up the subjects of precocious scaling and the Bloom-Gilman relation. We identify precocious scaling with exchange degeneracy among secondary trajectories. By using the annihilation rule, which explains the pattern of exchange degeneracy in hadron reactions, we show that e−N→e−X should manifest precocious scaling, as should some other processes such as e−e+→π±X,e−e+→KX. In contrast thereto, certain other reactions, such as e−e+→h0X, which allow an isosinglet missing mass, may not show precocious scaling. Examples include h0=π0, η, ω, o. The predictions ofprecocious scaling are only as good as the valence quark model and hence, only apply for x sufficiently near to one. For x sufficiently far from one, precocious scaling will not be valid for any reaction. Another consequence is that the total cross section for electron-positron annihilation to hadrons need not scale rapidly. However, in the limit of SU(3) invariance, even this cross section would scale precociously. In our picture, the Bloom-Gilman relation corresponds to having resonances in three quark scattering dual to the pomeron. This relation is shown to be consistent with a generalization of the dual pomeron to quark-quark and quark-antiquark scattering.