Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-03-21
FLOCKS AND HERDS.
HOW THEY MAY Be GRADED UP At
MINIMUM EXPENSE.

I~+$' -----
Breed Best Females to Pure Bred
Males-Continue the Process to the
Extent of Inbreedtng-value of
ski1lful Feeding.
It 4! often easy for the farmer who
has not abundant means to purchase.
pure bred stock for his flock and herds
to improve them by taking the best
females he has as a foundation and
breeding them II pure bred males Of
the type desired, thus getting half
bleods from the FIRST cross and three
quarters at the next mating, continuv
ing in each generation to reach nearer
to the pure breed, says The American
Cultiyator.
II he wants cows of greater milking
capacity, let him try the Holstein or
the Ayrshire, the latter being better
adapted than the Holstein to- scanty
hillside pastures, where there would
not be enough to fill the capacious
paunch and noble uddsrs Of the larger
breed. -
For those who want milk richer In
butter fat there are the Jersey and
the Guernsey, IN which the first nam
ed has the advantage Of being more.
abundant and therefore cheaper in this
country. A cross Of these upon a good
grade or native. cow, as some call those,
that have SO many different strains of
blood in them that one does not know
how to class them, seldom fails to
bring a COW that will have the good
qualities of her mother and the butter.
making ability Of the breed to which
the bull belongs. y
The same may be said for the beef
breeds, Hereford, Shorthorn or Angus.
They have been bred$for that one. pur-:
pose so many generations that their
ofsprings will inherit the. tendency to-
put on flesh andsto put it where most.
needed, as the child Of the African will
inherit a dark skin. $*s,S
This is by no means confined to tile.
cattle alone, but the principle holds
good In sheep, swine or poultry. The
pure bred male stamps the type of his,
ancestors upon his get and all the
more plainly when the mother is lot of
q strongly antagonistic type, but is a
combination of many breeds.
Two things. however, are necessary
to success II. doing this. The first is
absolute purity Of blood on the part OF
the sire, and the other that he is in
good health and a vigorous condition.
This gives the prepotency to fix the.
type and intensity it. Do not think
that by, using o. half or fhree-quarters.
pure blood male that there will be at
least half or three-quarters as much
Improvement is II he was pure bred,
for this Is by no means sure. In sprac-I
teal tests 1t has often been found that
the result from using a half blood was
to get. a poorer animal than the mother.
Having once decided what type to
breed to-, continue it even if necessary
to use the sire upon his daughters and
granddaughter. This has been done.
and where both animals were as nearly
perfect as they could be IT has brought
about s. more rapid Improvement than
using another animal Of the same
breed. 1t was thus that the great herds
of Shorthorns were built up by that Ia
nous breeder, who has scarcely been
equaied since his day, Bates the found
erof the Duchess family. Thus, too,have
some of onr best breeds Of other ami.
mails and fowls been created Or brought
to their present high standard. But
when a. defect In the sire begins to re-
appear In the offspring. it is time to
look for another of the same breed
lacking that defect.
hut having secured the Improvement
iii the young II must be retained by
constant care ID feed for the results AZ.