The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-12-13
What Can Be Done with Good Breeds.

VIVA Can De DOn0 WITH OOOu DE6OuSs
Philadelphia Record
No amount Of food will produce it's full pro-
portion of beef mutton, pork, milk or butter
unless the animal consuming it is capable of III
costing and assimilating it In such manner as to
derive from it all that will impart In the shape
of those products desired from its use. While
the food alone provides the increase, the better
the object upon which it is bestowed the better
the yield and profit The old maxim that "the
breed is in the trough" is not true, though the
trough is factor. as man has, by careful selec-
ton, nodded breeds suited to special purposes
The use of the breed for those special purposes
for which it is intended is the only correct mode
of engaging IN stock raising or dairying. The
classification of all animals into distinct breeds
opens the door for rapid progress and constant
improvement The very existence of 80 many
excellent and useful breeds should save valuable
time to the farmer, as improvement would
otherwise be but slow process AS at the
present time the farmer can begin at any point
and start off with hundreds Of years work done
for and before him. the advantage of the pure
breeds cannot be estimated. Millions of dollars
have been added to our national wealth by the
pure Breeds and, if comparison be made with
other branches of industry, 1T can be shown that
stock-breeding has held its own so far as per-
lection of the breeds is concerned.
But no breed will give satisfactory results ex
cept IN the direction to which it is adapted. By
the short horn Hereford and Angus bulls grades
of cattle can be produced that will yield twice
as much beef in the same space of time, and on
nearly the same amount of food, as can be OBJ
tanned from the scrub. Now, feed will only pro-
duce certain quantity, but the scrub cannot
digest and assimiate food as easily as the
beef producing breeds; consequently, much of
the food is voided and wasted. But granting
that even the cost of production is the same in
both cases. we still have the advantage of shorter
time, more rapid growth and greater service on
the part of the thoroughbred With the use of
Holsteins and Ayrshires in the dairy herd the
yield of milk can be more than doubled,
and the work can be easily accom-
plished by grading up the stock with
improved sires. 1t is by tho use of pure-bred
males that the fleet, sharp-back hog has been
transformed into an animal with prominent
hams and great aptitude to fatten, and no better
comparison can be made than to estimate the
amount of corn that would be required to fatten
we'll bred hog and a long nose scrub. The
latter would consume fully as much as the
former, but would fail to show a corresponding
gain. The food is, indeed, potent, but the breed
is the great agent by which the results are &C
complished. With good breeds we can increase
the size and quality of the carcass. double
and treble the yield of milk and butter, lessen
the cost of production and shorten the period of
growth, as we'll as economic in food and secure
profits where failure would otherwise be the
result.