The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-06-16

FIG. XXIx-THE A A FAT BEEF ANIMAL
IS CUT UP.
Mote the high prices Of the back and
loin.1
breed to select. Do not make a hasty
choice, for nothing will ruin your
chances of success more certainly than
frequent changes from one breed to
another. Select your breed with care
and then stick to it. All the leading
breeds have good points, and the mat
ter Of selection is more a question Of
individual preference than anything
else.
In beginning with pure bred stock
the best plan for the average farmer
to follow is to purchase a pure bred
male Of the desired breed and proceed
to grade up his herd. There are two
principles of breeding that should be
kept in mind in this work. The first
is the old law that 'like produces like
In the main this law holds good, and,
other things being equal, the offspring
will resemble the parents. The second
is the law of "atavism," or the tend
ency of the offspring to take after
some remote ancestor. This is where
the value Of the pure bred sire comes
in. His ancestors for generations have
been animals of the same type as him.
self, and hence there is little chance
Of his progeny differing from this type
to any serious extent. This long con-
tinued breeding along a certain line
gives to the pure bred animal an abil-
ity to reproduce his type that the
grade sire lacks. This ability is called
prepotency.
Because of his great prepotency a
pure bred bull when mated to grade
cows has much more influence over
the characters of his offspring than
the mothers have. This is most striking
~ shown when a polled bull is mated
to horned cows. Nine out of every
ten Of the calves will usually be polled.
1t is the same with other characters
tics-the ability to quickly turn corn
into high priced beef or to use the feed
for profitable milk and butter produc-
ton.
or course If the cows are pure bred
also there is less chance of the calves
resembling some inferior ancestor on
their mothers side, and improvement
will be more rapid and certain. The
cost Of an entire herd of pure breds is
very great, however, and profits will
come more surely by the grading up
plan. After this has been carried on
for a time, so that the farmer has
some experience in breeding and car
ing for high class stock, a gradual
start in pure bred females may be
made by buying a cow and calf or a
few yearling heifers. AS the offspring
Of these increase the number of pure
breds in the herd the grades can grad
ually be disposed Of until an entire
pure bred herd finally results.
In the selection of a sire to begin
grading up a herd it is important that
he be Of the type which it Is desired to
reproduce in the offspring. The most
important things to look for in a beef
bull are constitution, form, quality and
thick f1eshing. OF these constitution
is probably the most important, as a
bull that is strong in this point will
have the ability to sire a large num-
Der Of rugged, healthy calves. Con-
stitution is indicated by a deep, wide
chest; large BARREL" giving plenty Of
room for the digestive organs; good
sized nostrils and a large, clear eye.
A point that must go with constitution
If the best results are to be obtained
is prepotency. Prepotency means the
ability of a sire to reproduce his good
points in his offspring. 1t is indicated
by a heavy crest and a masculine look
ing head. A bull that has a fine, fem
mime appearing head will not be at all
certain of producing good calves, even
though he is a good individual him
self.
Constitution and prepotency are Of