Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-01-31

There has been So much said II
written about the general purpose COW
that it may seem there is nothing new
or interesting that remains to De said.
But there is one Phase oe the subject
that has not been much talked about
in the public press ana M ! have to
say will be along that line. namely.
personal experience With dairy short
horns, says j. II. Slaght in the Michi-
gan Farmer.
When I commenced breeding Short
horns ! knew nothing of fashionable or
questionable breeding and almost as
little about the various grades of that
breed, but ny neighnor WAS selling that
class of stock for high prices. why
shOuid | not do the same? Beng Il
man Of limited near and limited time
10 give to such things, the first pu:-
chase vas 4 solitary Heifer which
proved 10 DE a good mixer and breeder.
A.; the number increased and II became
necessary to procure sires. the question
arose. what line OF breeding is Ii best
to pursue All great breeders seem To
have bred for Il certain type of form
and quality. adhering strictly 20 the
plan until they had established a herd
and a type hat fitted their ideal.
Would it be wise to trim ones sails to
the NllltlS ana Dlttu Ltit tAttoS VI OWN
that. for the time being, would bring
the most money. or breed Tor a delinlte
type ana stick to il?
The latter course was decided upof,
and has been adhered 10 for many
years. Tie class selected was the gen
eral purpose coy. not only because IT.
WAS thought such ar animal was best
suited ana most profitable for the farm
err of moderate means, but To lemon
Scrate that there IS such an animal ana
that she is a very desirable piece OF
property.
The form ana quality souEAt was an
animal having ii level back, possessing
medium size. neither purse and long
nor understood, with rather long, small,
clean head and muzzle, long, slender
neck, broad deep CHEST, ribs well
sprung and large heart. lung and food
capacity broad. square hips and large
udder. not flesh. In short, a good APP
pearIng cow that would manufacture
q large arapunr of food into good rich
rlilk during lactatiCu and turn her feed
into flesh Of good quality wher dry.
In pursuance Of this plan a Bay
county herd ~as visited and the ia
mo Is Moss Rose 4tu. a state fair pre-
MUM takeT, as the beSt milk ana but
ter COW in the state. vas found 10 be
Of the right style y type Cor the
purpose. 4 bull from her was u
and placed at the head OF the herd.
This bull, Rose Knight. 1l7l54, proved
TO be just the animal desired. His get
at /, ? or 3 years, If not giving milk,
were ready for beef at any time with
out grain. One winter when hay was
scarce he was kept through on straw
and near spring a shipper sought to
buy him to ship for beef. Not every
one of his neifer calves made good
dairy cows but most of them did. He
had a wonderful power of transmit
ting his mothers dairy quality to his
get. Since then several bulls have
been procured, all being chosen for
their beef and dairy quality. The re-
suit IL a hero Of oWs that are near
the ideal. though there is still much
room for Improvement. One objection
with some might be that they are
never fat while giving milk, and that
is nearly all the time. Feed or pasture
them as yoll may. the feed goes 10 milk,
not to flesh. During the few weeks
they are dry they take on flesh rapidly
If the feed is good. But no effort is
made 10 get them in high condition.
With this treatment thete has been but
one case OF milk fever in the herd dur
ing the twenty-three years they have
been kept, and this WAS brought on by
feedlnB grain too soon after calving.
a few years ago one OF these COWS
dropped 4 grade calf. Not desiring to
raise it, it was thought best to let it
suck the COW and sell it for Christmas
beef. Although the calf was a large.
hearty fellow, Il was six weeks before
he would take all the milk. At about
six months he weighed 700 pounds,
with but little grain towards the last.
Since then this COW has sucked two
calves each summer and raised them
we'll without grain. During the past
season three of these COWS have fur
nislled milk for TWO calves each and all
but one of the calves have grown fine
IS. The three cows thus set free for
milking purposes would eithe. OF them
have furnished milk to grow two calves
successfully. Why such COWS are pre-
terred by the writer to the pure beef