Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1878-08-07

81:
Individuality and Selection


None of our readers needs to be told
that there are no two animals, even Of
the same breed, exactly alike-the TACT
is so apparent that it fails to excite eth
or the interests or study which its I'M
portance would seem to warrant, for II
we are not mistaken, these individual
differences may and should, be made
the basis for great and rapid improve
ment ofou live stock. 1t not extern
al characters alone that we refer, put
rather 10 internal functions. the activity
of which decide the profit which an AMI
NAL is to bring to its owner. With the
same food, the same ration, the same
surroundings, one of several animals
will digest large per cent, another
will make more live weight from CIV
On amount digested, and still another
will furnish a greater proportion oil
dressed carcass. Of given number OF
COWS under the same conditions, one
will be conspicuous for her large yield OF
milk, another for the quantity OF butter
which she produces, and still another
for the amount of casein. Consequent
", among a given lot OF animals we
find some that are very profitable, 9TH
ers that scarcely pay for their keeping
and still others tina. are a source OF GER
tain and continual loss.
fla merchant finds that he is paying
more for a certain line Of goods at one
house than they can be bought for at an
other, he would be considered an incom-
petent business man if he continued to
buy at the former establishment; 1t Is
mart of his business to get his goods at
the lowest market price, and inattentlon
in this respect often makes the difference
between success and failure. And is 1t
any less the business Of farmer to see
that he gets his butter and cheese, his
wool. beef, mutton and pork from such
animals as furnish it at the lowest cost?
It is self.evident that the greatest profit
from animals can only be made by those
who know at what price each one turn
ishes its products, who are particular to
keep only the most profitable indivldu-
ais. and who understand and practice
the most certain methods Of obtaining
such animals.
tits not necessary to keep an intri-
cate system of accounts to discover the
profits yielded by individual animals'nor
does it involve serious labor. In almost
every farmers family there is some
young person who would be interested
in keeping a record Of such experiments
and to whom the experience thus OBJ
tanned would be Of immense value in
after years. If the relative profit OF the
COWS in batter dairy is to be determin-
ed. the food of each sholld be carefully
weighed and measured, and their milk,
for certain number of days, churned
separately. 1t Is then an easy matter
to compute the butter yielded per day,
the cost of food per day, and the cost OF
the butter per pound. Of course, the
time since calving should be taken into
account, aud the mistake should not be
made Of limiting all the animals to a de-
termlned quantity of food, for butter Is
not manufactured from air, and it IS
those animals which have the capacity
to eat, digest and transform the greatest
quantity of food, which arc the most
profitable.
Our breeding stock, above all, should
be selected according to such principles.
If breeding mutton-sheep or hogs, lambs
and pigs should be regularly weighed
once a month, and their weights record
ed; fit is a ram or boar that Is to be
selected, we should, when they are from
one-half to two-thlrds grown. in addi-
ton to the above weighing, select three
or four Of the most promising, weigh
their food, and determine the actual gain
for gwen quantity Of food. We may
rest assured that by following this plan
we will soon have a uniform flock or
herd, and one that is capable Of making
the most of the conditions to which we
subject them and no one can doubt
that the profit from animals bred IN this
manner would be far in advance ofwhat
it wouln have been had no such care
been practiced.
This is practical selection. No farm
er can afford to neglect it and its gen
eral adoption would make an incalcula-
BILE addition to the value Of our animals,
and to the profits Of our agriculture-an
addition that would make all the differ
ence between an unremunerative bust
ness on the one hand, and highly
profitable one on the other.
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erystaiiIzIng Grasses.