The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-09-01
Importancc of Good Breeds.

1t may be safely claimed that good
animal requires no more room in the
stable than will one that is inferior, and
therefore saving of labor is effected in
lessening the cost of care and attention,
it being as easy to manage the superior an
imal as it is to give the labor to the other.
But the saving in the shelter, room, and
labor is not the only item. AS only the
most approved machinery is used by man
ufacturers in order to enable them to pro-
duce..goods at the lowest cost and compete
in markets with each other, so should the
farmer take advantage of his opportuni-
ties with purc-bred stock, and lessen the
cost by increasing the amount of pro-
duct.
As the manufacturer can adopt tn kind
of machines most suitable, so may the
farmer select the kind of stock for his
special purpose While on many farms
no regard is given the breeding or char
act ristics Of the animals used, yet the
farmer has it in his power to use cattle
that excel in butter, beef or milk, and as
some breeds combine several good quail
i:ics, his advantag are not limited.
There j. no necessity TO: devoting stall
to COW that yields only ten quarts of
milk FER day when, by judicious breed
in, the product may be doub,ed. We
can point to special cows that have
yielded over forty quarts of milk per
day, and COWS arc numerous that pro-
duce over twenty pounds of butter per
week. Steers have been known to gain
three pounds weight daily, rams have
shcared over thirty pounds of wool, and
mutton sheep have attained 400 pounds
live wei light in two years, while the hog
seems to have an easy time gaining a
pound daily for twelve months.
1t is not supposed that every farmer
will be SO fortunate as to possess animals
of extraordinary merit, bat as long as
such excellence exists the farmer should
be encouraged to strive always for some
thing better. There is no middle ground
in keeping stoct. There must either he
an improvement or retrog ession. The
farmer who does not have some oh, ,ect
in view will soon or late be compelled
to dispose of his stock as Improbable,
as the difference in profit and loss is in
the animals and their management.
The cost of improvement is, fortu-
nately, but small sum compared with
the benefits derived, rs nature has en-
dowed the males with the capacity of
begetting large progeny. And as en-
pcrimcnts have demonstrated that the
characteristics of breed may be trans
mitted through the male line it becomes
but matter of few seasons when IN
entire hcri or fock may be chang d. If
one will but calculate the additional
value impaired 10 the stock by only a
single cross it will readily he perceived
that the services performed by the male
more than balances his cost the first sea-
son, and as he may be useful for several
years it is not only costlcss and econom-
ical to improve, but very profitable, as
stock that formerly did net repay their
cost may, by change to grades, add so
largely to milk, beef or butter as to make
it an object to still further improve. The
performance of celebrated animals show
what can be done, and every farmer
should aim to improve his stock to what