Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-05-25
An Age of Improvement.

IL
| back few generations at the character
4 of the stock which their forefathers
used, can congratulate themselves on
/ having made some lengthy strides in
the grand work OF making our farm
2 stock more useful, aud raising the
: standard of excellence many degrees
! What few brief years ago would have
been deemed 'grand bullock" for in
: stance, would now be compelled to
yield first hOnors to the much shorter
gged, hner-boned, less "patchily" fat
! ted, and withal, much smaller beast
the most bulky animals are not the
ones which are the most attractive in
these days, but those which have the
greatest bulk with the smallest per-
centage of waste material in their
make up. We have made grand prog
reSS In improving our farm stock,
though without glance at the past to
see what marked progress has been
made within the memory of even mid
dle-aged men, does not signify that it
is time to "call halt" but rather that
we should go forward with Iedoubled
efforts. and with our far greater facili.
ties replace the scrubs or mongrels
with grades and The grades with thor
oughoreds in such a rapid way as our
foTefatherS would not have thought
possible. As time gIes on and the
stock OF highIy-bred animals increases
1t becomes easier each succeeding year
To make our stock better.
The great advantages Of having i'm
proved breeds need not be enumerated
at length in brief article, for they are
too patent to this even the least OBJ
serving. The prime inducement to in
creased effort in this direction is the
mighty dollar" The mass of human
lty are not so much actuated by a de-
sire to add their mite to increase the
wealth OF the country, or from motives
OF personal pride in having "the best
stock in the neighborhood," as by the
fact that to attain such a position alb
solutely insures much stronger flow
of ready cash. Whatever be the mo-
tives, the result of determination
among farmers, each to excel his neigh
Dor In producing good stock cannot
, fail to be of incalcuable benefit to the
country at large in a comparatively
short time. Competition is truly "the
, life of trade" and is frequently the
cause of very poor stock locality be-
ing converted into a good one. The
force of setting a good example is
quickly seen in al agricultural district
when one or more of the inhabitants
make some marked improvement on
the methods in vogue. The others.
: though they may feel satisfied to con-
= tinue in the time-wOrn ruts, are not
willing that their fellows should Guido
them in the race to keep abreast of the
age. Thus it is that man who makes
a departure from out-of-date ways is
not only adding to his individual worth,
but at the same time spur his neigh
: bors up to a sense of duty.
: The time was-and not so very long
; ago, either-when labor saving nipple
= ments, finely-bred stock, and agricult-
ural papers were considered by large
, number to be fit only for men of means,
/ who engaged in farming more for
: pleasure and pastime than for profit.
: But now the people are awakening to
the fact that the adoption of those
\ means are absolutely essential to sue
@ cessful agriculture, and instead of i'm
: proved methods being merely for those
t who have made money in other ways,
2 they are now recognized as being the
only certain way for poor men to
o become independent. "Book-farming
: and head-work in agriculture very
q materially curtail the manual labor and
q increase the PROFITS.
:. While it would be highly gratifying
i to all directly or indirectly interested
g to have every mongrel or low. grade
a animal displaced by one OF unquestion.
[ able breeding. it would NOT be the best
J. policy for all hands to sell out their
|. poor stock, male or female, and substi-
= tute pedigreed stock, There is no call
for such radical change; gradual but
}. sure improvement being more desirable.
This is best accomplished by grading
: up. Let every farmer carefully select
his best females for reproduction from
q among the common stock and use only
! thoroughbred males. Each cross will
! add to the value of the herd or flock.
, and the value a single years get of a
thoroughbred male as compared with a
o mSngrel sire, will be more than enough
: to pay for the former, and the i'm
. provement every year thereafter will
! be clear gain. The sire is half of the
herd or flock, and should invariably be
! a strong, purely-bred animal. Mengrel
: sires are entirely too expensive for our
! average farmer. A pOorly-bred OK,
> unlike = bull, cannot send his bad
: qualities through thousand veins, and
If he has not been well-bred, he can
be well-fed and fairly fitted for the
: butchers block.
In this busy, bustlipg age Improve
ment" must be the motto of all who
would keep up with the ever-increasing
|. tide Of advancement. 1t does not
matter so much what breed Of animals
; you select; but discard the common
sires as fast as possible, and as vast as
has been the Improvement within the
past quarter Of a century. we can