Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1903-03-20
the COUNTY FARMERS INSTITUTE
Gudmund Skartvedt Interesting
ly Discusses Breeds of Cat
tie and Breeding.
An Interesting Paper on Milk
and How to Care for 1t -
..4 BY f. M. Beck. l

and How to Care tor 1t
BY f. M. Beck. @
BREEDS OF CATTLE.
The subject assigned to me by you
programme committee is avery impol
tant one in this stock and corn produc
ing country Of ours, and I sincerely re
gret that 80 great q subject has not
better spokesman. #
There are = good many breeds of cat
tie and most Of them have their specia
merits and their defects. - l shall brief,
mention some of the more importan
breeds @f& tEt&s@.s E-it:$fti2' s@"
The Black Polls-i. Q. oll.Angus
Aberdeen Angus and Galloways are al
good beef cattle, fatten we'll, sell in tn
fat cattle market among the highest
priced, and}are good rustlers on the
range. butsthey are not as rule gooi
mixers. once in while a good milkel
may be found among them, but 1 ar
inclined to the opinion that in that case
there is Holstein blood mixed in
tried those cattle some years ago bu,
did not like them on account of the
poor milking qualities. and, besides,
they were inclined to be ugly. '@
Another excellent beef breed is the
Herefords, or white faces. They are
hardy and good rustlers, even better in
that respect than the blacks, fatten we'll
and sell well for beef purposes, but are
it possible even poorer mixers than the
black. They are splendid cattle on the
range, but as to their milking qualities,
the COW would starve the calf was it
not for the hardness of the breed go
that the calf soon begins rustling for
itself.
I once had a Hereford COW that was
q good mixer, but when I came to
trace her breeding l found her sire had
considerable Shorthorn blood in him.
Both the breeds mentioned above are
fair sized cattle, and when fattened
will weigh heavy.
Then We have the Holstein. They
were in great demand and fashionable
years ago. They are large, coarse,
honey and great mixers as far as quan-
tity is concerned. A milkman however
that had Holstein COWS would not have
to mix water in his milk, it would be
watery enough without When the
milk tester came IN use, 1.-The Holstein
COW lost her popularity. As beef cattle,
they are not desirable. They are hard
feeders, and not in favor with the buy
ers at the fat cattle sales.
I will briefly mention the Jersey COW
as . town COW. She gives an excellent
quality of milk and good fair quantity.
She is suitable in this rich prairie coun.
try of ours only a. town COW. but not
the COW to have on the farm, for the
reason that in order to make the most
possible ont of the COW on the farm we
must have the dual purpose COW, that
is, one that will give fair amount of
rich milk and also produce calf of the
beef and milk type. OF this kind of
cattle can be mentioned, the Red Poll
and the Shorthorns.
The Red Polls are usually good milk.
ers and good beef cattle, docile and of
fine quality, but they are somewhat un-
dersized, and for that reason not as de-
sirable on the rich prairie farms here in
the Sioux Valley, as are the Shorthorns.
This is the Oldest and best special
breed there is. but it is with cattle
breeding as with every thing else it has
it's fads and fashions all of which are
not commendable. Some great breed
ere, as for instant Amos Cruickshank,
one of the most noted Scotch breeders.
bred specially for the beef type and
succeeded in building up one of the
finest herds of Shorthorns there ever
NASHVILLE others have had the dual
purpose COW more in mind and has
therefore bred for milk qualities as we'll
as for beef. There is no other breed of
cattle that will TO such degree com.
bine the two special purposes, milk and
beef, as does the Shorthorns. They are
as large If not larger than the Holstein
and nearly as good mixers as far as
quantity is concerned, and in quality
nearly equal to the Jerseys. While
they fully rival the Black Polls or the
White Faces in beef, and besides this
they are more docile and gentle to han.
die than either of the other breeds.
Now few words about some COM
mon mistakes in cattle breeding. One
Of the worst and most common is Cross
breeding. The first cross may often
appear to be alright between certain
breeds, but the second cross is generally
apt to produce an offspring that will be
neither fish nor fowl. A cross between
! Hereford and Jersey is apt to bring a
punny little Jersey looking calf with
no better milking qualities than the
Hereford The same rule holds good as
10 any other breeds. Breed only in the
,ame line; use the greatest possible care
10 select q bull from as perfect q COW
If yonr ideal as possible. The bull is
half the herd, and none ought TO be
good enough excepting the best that
IAN be had. A heifer is more apt to
AXE after the dam of her sire than aft
or her own dam, hence the great i'm.
portance of selecting bull from good
lam.
Another dangerous thing is inbred.
ing, although not quite as common l
believe among stock raisers as Cross
But there is another very common
mistake and that is using too young
bulls, and also allowing the heifers to
oe bred too young. A great many farm
,rs have noticed use bull only a
year old. that is not advisable. A bull
,ught not to be used until he is nearly
;wo years, or at least Is to 20 months
md then only very little, and with
careful handling, and the same is true
Is, to heifers. Let them get a, chance
% form and develop before they are
,red, then stock can be raised that
lave some size and vitality in them.
There are many that dent want to buy
| bull that is 4, 5, 6, or more years old,
hat is sad mistake. bull at that age
9 at his best. The best bull ever had
except the one just got used until he
vas years old. 1 then sold him to a
nan that used him for years more.
Another fad among a. good many is
he color craze this Of conrsa cOncerns