The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-02-01

spring are the most profitable and practical
for the average farmer. These traits and
characteristics are not confined to any par
ticular family; hence the family name should
have no particular bearing in the selections
made for practical value.
good combina ion of beef producing
qualities from q variety OF these SO called
families will in my judgement prove OF
much value. These families have Except
ing few been breed SO nearly in the
same direction that the differences are
mostly fanciful. If the farmer desires good
milking shOrthorns land their number is
legion) he must combine with his beef pro-
ducing qualities the other natural character
istics of the tribe, its excellent milking abili-
ties. And here let me say by way of par
enthesis. that in no tribe of cattle known
Ia man is there such happy combination
of these two necessary and desirable proper
ties which make the best animal as the
shorthom. The fictitious value placed on
fashionable or questionable pedgrees to-
gether with the general decline in all agri-
cultural productions, has had much to 90
in discouraging breeders of the red, white
and roam, and many have sold their herds
of thOroughbreds and kept their grades be-
cause fashion had said that their ancestors
must all have had an English Herd Book
pedigree previous to their expectation.
The American people are quite apt to fol-
low fashion no matter who establishes 1t
provided it seems likely to succeed. AS APP
piled to shOrthOrn breeding, 1t is well that
every breeder should inform himself regard
ing it. The authority that proclaims Red
Rose by Earnestly, Caroline by Eastwood
and Daisy by Wild unfashionably bred be-
cause forsOoth they did not have a record in
tI,a CHI w |
not attained any great prominence at the
time of their expectation, also pays this high
tribute TO them, that they were three of the
best shOrthOrns ever imported into the
United States, No critic has ever cast q
suspicion upon the purity of their breeding.
To show how little a record in the earlier
English herd book should affect us or our
cattle here, / will relate little history.
The rule that governs the registration of
their cattle is this, as | understand it: If a
cow that has no record Il suppose she must
be of shorthOrn antecedents) is bred to a
registered shorthorn bull, and her female
progeny is also bred to pure bred bull and
so on to four or five crosses, then such Off
spring Is eligible to record in the English
Herd Book, and if imported into this cOun-
try would come under the fashionable list.
Now take an imported COW that was brought
thoroughbred shorthorn, and though she
may in her progeny have twenty crosses of
the best of breeding, still by the rules of
fashion she is boycotted, and the man with
Healy in his hand says to his neighbor who
feels disposed to buy pure bred, good
animal don't you touch her, she is unfashiOn-
ably bred. Now can the practical farmer
who wants the best beef and milk animal
combined see any reason for discriminating
against such good, well bred, practical
cattle. And to the average farmer l am
appealing. To the breeder who hopes and
expects to furnish breeding stock to be used
in what are called fancy strains of blood,
/ would say rs the commercial value of the
herd might be injured by such crosses, let
them alone. But to the farmer who breeds
cattle for the real value there is in them,
both as to beef and milk, you will make no
mistake in buying and breeding from these
long established, good families of cattle. l
would not be understood as saying that it Is
not desirable to have herd of cattle free
from any thing that fancy might find fault
with, but for the breeder to sacrifice good
animals, purely bred, and pay for paper
simply, when the cattle are no better and
frequently not so good, is the heighth of
nonsense and should be discouraged. The
farmer must raise and breed that kind of
stock that will pay for the investment made,
or it is not a good one. Men may and
should breed fancy and gilt edged pedigrees
il they desire TO, and have other resources
to rely upon, but to the careful aud prudent
man this will not do.