The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-04-20

vi ulDtby-bDItt duu
three-fourths per cent of the thorough
bred, while the sixth generation has
ninety-eight and seven-sixteenths per
cent of pure blood, and would be what
is called full bred very nearly.
In selecting cows for this system of
breeding, care should be taken to get
them of as nearly uniform type as pos
sible. The head should be small and
lean, eyes full and mild, neck full and
thin, shoulders thin, backbone promi-
nent and open between joints, hips
wide, legs short and fine boned, barrel
well-rounded and large, deep through
behind the shoulders, to give plenty of
room for heart and lungs, udder large,
running well forward and back, teats
rather short, but thick and wide apart.
Avoid those whose udders show a ten
dency to collapse after being MIXED.
/ grant that cows with bags that milk
down to nothing are usually large milk
ers, but you may just as surely set
them down as thin mixers. None of
the great butter producers | have ever
seen showed any tendency to collapsed
udder after milking, but rather the OPP
posite. The skin should be soft and
mellow to the touch, covered with thick
| SOlb udlIs DuCll d COW DIS l. nave uG-
scribed, if weighing about 900 pounds,
will invariably have good constitution,
which is indispensable, but do not mis-
take size for constitution or a capacity
| for dairy work. The best COW we have
on the Billings farm weighs only $50
pounds, and last year she gave over 81
times her own weight in milk, and 217
pounds II ounces of butter. Having
| caIantaI bn haot e.
foundation, the next step is to find
bull to mate with them, and it is of the
utmost importance that he should be
good one, as the future herd will be
largely composed of his blood.
For this reason he ought to be
strongly inbred to great butter produc-
ing cows. Examine his breeding on
both sides as far back as possible and
see that he has no faint of imperfection
in his makeup, for it must be borne in
mind that he is quite as likely to trans
NIT imperfections if they exist as good
qualities, and the more prepotent he is
the greater the danger. He should
have a good disposition, strong aud
rugged constitution, and yet free from
coarseness of any kind, full ofvitality or
nervous energy, which will insure his
ability to stamp his imprint on his Off
spring. If such bull hicks well with
the herd it will usually be safe enough
to breed him to the second or even the
third generation; but here the skill and
judgment of the breeder must come
into play in determining how far in
breeding can be carried in any particu-
lar case. One of my neighbors is so
well p eased with it that he has carried
it to the fourth generation with no sign
of deterioration, and he reports that in
every case the heifers are better than
their dams, which after all is the breed
er's test of merit. After having Sc
cured good foundation stock the only
thing necessary to insure success is
eternal vigilance in testing and weed
ing the poorest from the herd. This is
where great many make mistake in
not testing their cows separately
Many grand cow has passed her whole
life without her owner knowing what
prize he has, and she has probably
been helping to support some worth
less brute that was not worth her keep
as dairy COW, and anyone who has
never tested his cows will be surprised
at the great difference there is, not only
in the quality but in the quantity of the
product.
The cows on the Billings farm are all
tested for butter three times during the
year: Once when fresh, once about the
middle of the milking period and again
about two months before they are due
to calve, and as their milk is weighed
separately every day we can form a
very fair estimate of the amount of but
ter made from each COW in a year, and
are thus able to determine which are
the most profitable. This, to be sure,
takes some time, but anybody who will
try it for year will be we'll paid for
the trouble. | know of a good many
, instances where farmers have adopted
the system l have just described for
grading up their herds and have brought
them up in few years from 150 pounds
to over 300 pounds year, and l know
of no reason why every dairyman in the
: country cannot do likewise.
J Another noticeable fact is that just
, as soon as man begins to improve his
7 herd he also begins to improve his sur
= roundings, gets out of the old ruts all
1 along the line, begins to read agricul-
| tural literature, makes closer study of
t nature, takes different view of farm
s life as he sees its great possibilities
g opening before him; in fact, he has a
/ new aim in life, and if we can only get
0 our young men and farmers boys in
a terested in the improvement of our
2 domestic animals and recognize the
0 opportunities for both wealth and
4 honor which lie before them in this
f branch of industry, we will soon cease
0 to hear so much talk about our young
s men leaving the farm.