St. Tammany farmer., 1906-03-17
A TALK TO sTocKME:N.

A TALK TO sTocKMEN.
some Advice a. to How TO 1mpIove
the Breed Of the Animals on
the Farm.
Producers OF live stock anu anamaa
products might be CLASSIFIED into sew
eral groups. but there are one or TWO
classes in particular that we Wish to
consider briefly. First. there Is tnas
class engaged largely in the production
Of pedigreed animals to be disposed OF
for purposes Of improvement; we have
NO criticism to offer this class; tney
are by far too few and do not receive
the support and announcement that
their efforts deserve.
The average producer Of meats ana
milk (not breeder) seems determined
not to pay more than about meat
prices for males to. infuse Improved
blood in his herd or flock, and the
breeder cannot make living produc-
ing them at these prices. Failing TO
secure improved males at these low
prices. too many producers fall back
on the grade or even the scrub, ana
frequently combine with this In
breeding. The greatest and most press
ing needs to-day ID live stock improve
ment are more breeders, more good
males and more men willing to pay
remunerative prices for them and
cease admixing blood and using grades
and scrubs.
Let us suppose the case of farmer
with a bunch Of 20 cows and heifers
of common and mixed breedings. says
Robert S. Shaw, in the Prairie Farmer.
In general this man cannot sell on
these mixed and common cows and re-
place them with pure-bred ones, 1or
two reasons; first, if many were to at
tempt this at once the pedigreed ami
mails could not be secured, they are toe
few; and, second, the finances OF few
men would permit such course, as
it might take the returns from several
common cattle to secure one good one.
The producer who is heavily embar-
rassed financially and who has to cash
every available product as soon as sal
able in order to meet the pressing
obligations is in severe straits when
thoughts of radical live stock improve
ment are considered, but we hope this
class is small.
The first step toward Improvement
must be to make the best possible use
Of the stock in hand. We suggest that
the herd be looked over carefully and
graded into three classes; namely.
good, medium and inferior. We then
suggest that the two first classes be
retained and the, last disposed Of as
quickly as possible in the best avail
able way.
Next the producer must stop, think
and decide upon what line or lines OF
animal production he desires to follow
and then breed with no other purpose
in view but that one. Then. IN the
case of the herd Of cattle. secure the
best -pedigreed bull OF the breed show
ing the desired type that the pocket
book will allow: when he can be used
no longer without in-breeding, secure
q better one OF the same breed, and so
on In constant succession.
Not more than two or three genera
tions will have been produced by the
good bulls from the common or mixed
bred cows before their progeny Will
conform quite closely to the type Of
the ancestors, and as producers of meat
or milk they will soon almost equal
the capabilities Of the breed used for
improvement. We must not forget,
however, that these up-graded animals
In most instances can never possess
pedigrees, nor can they attain the same
degree Of prepotency as the breed used
for Improvement. At the same time
that the first sire is chosen we suggest
that a female or two of the same blood
as the bull be secured, II possible. The
progeny of these two or three regis
tered animals should grow into q nice
little herd at the end Of ten years,
which could be used to replace the
poorer OF the high grades.
That the high grade is useful ami
NAL cannot be disputed; 1t forms the
bulk OF, the western feeders coming to
our feed lots; it makes up almost the
same total Of the 40o,0 900 prime steers
that annually cross the Atlantic; it
occupies no mean place In the list OF
awards In fat classes at state, nation
al and international live stock shows.
It is highly desirable thst some form
Of cooperation for communities should
be established, by which males could
be owned and used by several parties
rather than one. In theory, these
propositions sound well, but in actual
practice they have not worked well, a.
illustrated by the numerous unsatis-
factory results from the joint owner
ship Of stations.
NoN-FREEZINC WATERTANK.
How Galvanized Tank May Be Ar
ranged Over Well So as to Pro-
tect from Frost.
A very simple device for keeping wa
ter from freezing is to make a tank OF