The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-05-20
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
INTERESTING CHAPTERS FOR
OUR RURAL READERS.
HOW Successful Farmers Operate This
Department of tho Farm-A Few
Hints ~ to tho Care OF Live Stock
and Poultry. st.
Breeding Ayrshfres.


In a paper read at recent meeting
OF Ayrshire breeders in New York,
Secretary G. M. Winslow laid down the
following principles for the guidance of
breeders:
OF course the first point to lay down
for perfection is the actual yield OF
milk and butter, and whatever else
is sacrificed, this must be retained al
ways, and built up by every means
| available. Constitution must back up
this dairy prominence, or it amounts to
little. With dairy yield and constitu-
ton, one will naturally have as Sc
quence the small head, the thin shout
ders, the large barrel with arched ribs,
the caDacious udder, large milk veins
and holes. The breeder has then a
good dairy COW, and he must hold on
to that and add to it, and then polish
her up with what might be called the
non essentials. The udder must be
shaped to a proper form, bred up be-
hind and out in front and on the
sides, until the COW can hardly walk
when it is full. The sole of the udder
must be brought down to a level, and
the teats moved to the four corners OF
the udder. In doing all this, you will
probably have shortened the teats so
that it will trouble you to obtain the
amount Of milk your new cow will
give, and you must breed them longer
and still hold all you have got. Then
you must square up the rump, and
carry out the tail so that it will drop
off suddenly at right angles. All this
time you must watch the loin, to keep
up the strength of your machine. After
you have done all this, you may give
her some small upright horns, and
place a broad flanders escutcheon on
your COW, and you may give her any
combination of red, brown and white,
except roam; and you will have at
tanned your object-a perfect Ayrshire
COW.
Now to do all this a man cannot stay
at home and work up perfection out
of his own herd. Nor can he send to
some noted breeder and buy a bull
calf at random in the hope of it's
nicking with his own herd and intensi-
flying the good qualities and eliminat-
ing the defects; but he should have the
ideal type so firmly fixed in his own
mind that he knows clearly what his
best cows lack in making them per-
1ect, and he should find bull that
Will build up the point that is most
lacking in his most perfect COW, bear
ing in mind the dairy quality always,
SO as to keep that on the increase, or
at least not to go backward. Some
" times he will need bull strong in one
OF the minor points and sometimes in
another; and after all his pains and
trouble he may find he made mistake
in the use of the most carefully Sc
lected bull, because of some prepon-
derance of strong blood that swerves
the offspring out Of the line he hoped
for, and he has to try again.
In order to do all this, it is neces-
sary for the breeder personally to in
spect the dam and her relations, as far
as he can, of the bull he proposes to
use in his herd; and the higher he
reaches in his attempts for perfection,
eoS !-AOA 70 A0SSo'HAy IAC PC4 oOudl hnOW1-
edge of the ancestry of the proposed
addition to his herd He should not
wait until he needs a bull, but should
plan ahead and be on the lookout for
just what he is. likely to need in the
near future, and have the dam of a
future bull in his mind; and he may,
By little advice, manage to have her
coupled so as still more to aid him in.
obtaining what he needs. No one bull
will be suitable for all the herd; but
if the breeder is not situated so that
he can keep more than one, he can
breed the top of his herd right and
let the other end take care of itself.
One very important help In all this
is always to keep the best animals
you raise, and weed out the poorest.
There is always a market for the poor
est, either to the butcher or the city
milkman. In my own herd, if a COW
does not suit me or come up to my
standard of excellence, I can always
sell her as new mich cow. to 20 to
Brighton. The drovers are glad to
get them, and will pay me the high
est market price for a fancy COW and
let me keep her calf and her pedigree:
and she goes to market as a common
cow.
a.