Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-18
characteristics of Breeding Bull.
Road before the Indiana Shorthorn breeders oonve
tloR by Vice President Charles Lowder.

Road before the Indiana shorthorn breeders oonven.
tion by Vice President Charles Lowder.
Bulls are valuable only as they are capa-
Bile Of producing uniform good stock. The
progressive farmer having como to a cor
rect conclusion as to what constitutes excel
lence in a good steer, and knowing what
kind of cows he has to breed from, would
naturally inquire how shall know q good
bull And what are the characteristics
Of good breeding bull ?" As law Of
nature "like tends to produce like" A
bull tends to breed like himself. He trans
mits to his offspring that only which he has
himself If his ancestors, both male and
female, we're uniform in all that constitutes
excellence, and he is individually good, he
may be depended upon for producing good
stock. But if part Of his ancestors only
were good and the others bad, he may trans
nit to his offspring bad qualities as well as
good lie can transmit only what he has
himself What he has is mainly derived
from his ancestors, yet he may have gained
or lost by good or bad system of breed
ing, feeding and training. Hence, the
predigce of bull should be good. This is
Of first Importance. That is as near all the
blood in his veins as possible should be
derived from good ancestors. A short ped.
igee with only five or six sires, if they were
all good, may be worth more than a long
pedigree descended from Favorite, if the
last Ave or six sires were inferior bulls. A
long pedigee is not necessarily a good one,
nor short pedigee absolutely a bad one.
The value of pedigree is estimated rot
only by its length but also by its quality.
In selecting a bull to breed from, the value
Of his dam should be taken into considera-
ton as we'll as that of the sire her milk
ing qualities should not be overlooked. A
bull from COW that is a good miker is
worth more, other things being equal, than
one from poor mixer. As limited above
the value of bull depends upon his power
to produce uniform good calves. Some bulls
of great Individual merit lack this power,
while other bulls throw calves better than
themselves or the COWS to which they are
bred. This latter is one Of the characteris-
tics of good bull.
1t is impossible for any one to always tell
how bulls will breed until they are tested T;
yet the intelligent and careful farmer or
herdsman can guess with approximate cer-
taiuty as to the general character Of the get.
A good breeding bull must not only be like
bull, but he must look IKE bull that is,
he must not look like COW he must be
masculine in appearance. And this holds
good as well in the pure Shorthorn as in the
scrub or any other breed. A good bull is
as much entitled to the peculiar eye, head,
horn, neck, shoulder and chest that charao-
terizes him as a male, as man is entitled
to his beard and the peculiar expression Of
the countenanco. A bull with light Jaws
narrow face and forehead, slim horns, thin
neck and shoulders, is seldom an impressive
sire of good things. He must be masculine
in appearance. This does not imply that
he must be coarse on the contrary, he
should be fine. Coarseness may be defined
as unevenness, while fneness is the result of
uniformity. Each part should be such that
it fits smoothly and evenly to those adjoin'
ing it.
AS has been said above, bull is valua-
bic only as his breeding is valuable. This
depends, Of course to some extent, upon the
COWS to which be is used Great extremes
between sire and dam seldom nick we'll
together. The intelligent breeder, in max
ing selection of his breeding bull, will have
regard to the COWS with which he is to be
coupled. If they are under size, he will
select bull of good size, one that is not
too large. Great extremes don't mix we'll
Ii his COWS are very largo and inclined to
breed too much bone for the amount OF flesh,
he will select bull of rather compact form
and good feshy qualities, but one that is
not too much under size. The skiliul breed
er, before selecting his bull, should deter
mine what he wants, and should be able to
give an intelligent reason why he wants
him and, after having made his purchase,
should know how to use him. The ability
to answer intelligently to what, why and
how, is as indispensable to the successful
breeder Of neat cattle as it is to the man in
any other prOfessiOn.-Prairie Farmer