The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-28

We wish to supply Q market with but ter or with milk: if with butter then our aim should be to secure that type of cattle; If milk Is our desideratum then we should endeavor to produce milk by breeding that type of cattle whose nature is to give the most milk This much in general as to cattle But when we come to oh oose the breeding
 stock of the smaller animals such as | sheep and hogs. there k one thought we should keep ever before us In their | selection, and that Is the fecundity of the individual. In the rearing of hogs, l especially. the chief desire Is to get as
 much pork as possible; in other words. | when we are raising hogs we are after
 meat. In considering the factors which | determine almost entirely the profit or
 loss in growing hogs. fecundity plays
 the most important part. A greater
 difference will be found in the differ | ent individuals within the same breed | of swine than there will be seen be- | twen the different breeds themselves. i've will find for instance. some sows | more prolific than others; the average filters of some will not be more than others: the average filters of some will
 not be more than four or five pigs, l while there are others that will reg
 ularly bring eight, nine and ten pigs
 each time. So when We take into con- sideration the expense of the keep of
 the sows. we can very readily see the | advantage to us in keeping the sows that givesus the most pigs. This pro- fciency in hogs can be bred into tn em with all ease by careful selection,f and
 1t takes but a few generations to stamp this prolific type upon them. We can
 take sheep and within a few years
 have a flock whose ewes will drop txxytp tna grx1a lv, fe 1t, zv~I,
 a matter of selection and persistent
 work along Q certain line to make the
 animal creation conform to our ideals. But what ever you do, whether 1t be In the laying of a foundation stock or in the improvement of what you have. use only pure bred males. There is no question about it, blood will tell, and 1t is just as important In the lower animal creation as 1t is in man. We cal deformities of the mother or father are inherited by their children. In fact. we have 1t from Holy Writ that the 'iniquities of the fathers are visit ed upon the children unto, thethird and fourth generation" believe 1t has come to be generally understood that this Is true statement of physf- ological law, from which there Is no escape. That these infirmities or pe- SoAA"AAsaSS VI thO PoASAt oaO 'AShSSN upon the offspring is as true of cattle. horses, sheep or hogs as 1t Is of the human family. "Blood will tell" Oli- yer Wendell Holmes has his "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" express his belief in this great truth. the value of a pedigree, when he says: T go always. other things being equal. for the man who inherits family tradi- tons and the cumulative humanities of at least four or five generations .> Hence we can be none too careful in selecting the foundation stock, or in placing a male at the head of herd.
 Value of Mules.
 There is one branch of the live stock business l have not touched upon and one of the most profitable lines we could engage in, namely, mules. When we come to view the question square in the face, 1t Is the strangest thing to me that we have neglected this im- portant branch of live stock growing in Alabama. The mule Is an animal that will grow and thrive under almost every condition of soil or climate. He has never been accused of having any aristocratic proclivities; he Is a crea- ture of his surroundings, adapting himself to the conditions as he finds them; he Is as stable as pound of pork or a pound of cotton; he is the friend of the white man and the com- panion of the negro: he Is neither horse nor donkey, and yet he Is the essence of all that goes between; he is the only animal refused the honor of a berth in Noah's ark. neither will he be hon. ored with a place drawing the char lots along the streets of the New Je- rusalem, for he is of the earth earthly" but he will prove to you a safe and sure retreat" in time of need: he is made to order. and, in fact, is the only work of man that will en- dure; he will pay those notes for you when they become due if you but give him aschance; he Is the kind that makes things happen.
 "So, gentlemen. let's give the mule a chance to pull us out of the old ruts and see if brighter day doesn't come to us sooner than we expect.
 pr. Cary supplemented his talk of Friday by one on Feeding Horses and Mules"
 He recommended a small amount of cotton seed mealtmixed with oats, corn and hay, as feed that would bring out the maximum working efficiency.
 Professor s. D. Dow representative of the Agricultural Department at Washington. and now experimenting In this State, spoke on The Dairy Con- ditions in Alabama as I Have Found Them"
 Surprised at Prices.
 Upon first entering this State." he said, T was surprised at the prices that are received here. Milk was re- tailing at 30 to 35 cents gallon ana butter 35 cents pound.
 Now let us take up the first item, milk retailing at 30 to 35 cents gal lon, Compare this with 20 and 26 cents in the Central West. Without doubt, you say, 1t Is costing more for us to produce this milk than 1t does In the West, and to some extent this Is true. But when you consider the taxable valuation of the land. the in- creased cost of buildings and espe- cialIy the oh eapness of the labor with which the work inl4this section is done, there Is not so great difference in the cost of producing the milk.
 The requirements in most of the towns farther north and west are somewhat more rigid than In this State.
 "Where. milk retails for 10 cents a uuart, 1t is unusually labeled as san itary and certified milk "The dairies are required to sterilize all utensils this one if there Is enough hot water to wash pretty thoroughly and give good rinsinE, 1t Is doing well. You may be surprised to know that one progressive dairyman who is dolng only faily well was afraid that the state would soon have too many dairy men and cause slump in the price. That, I think, will depend upon sew eral things. First. dairying on the rtorated that land; but. .ea the other hand, always built 1t up: There Is at present in this State too many un- profitable cows that are eating up the