The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-07-15

community breeders associations Is
being put forward by the Michigan
College of Agriculture. The plan is
to organize the farmers of the com
munity into associations, each asso
citation to control 100 COWS. One
farmer may put in 10 COWS, another
20, or any desired number. The as
ISOLATION is then divided into blocks
each block containing 40 COWS. Three
registered bulls are bought of the
chosen breed, and one placed with
each block of COWS. The cost may be
prorated among the members accord
ing to the number Of COWS owned. At
the end of two years the bulls are
rotated, No. 1 going to block H., No.
going to block III, and No. going
to block I. TWO years later the bulls
are rotated again, and two years fol-
lowing that the bulls are replaced by
three new ones. A service fee of 81
for members and So for non-members
is charged, thus providing funds from
which to defray cost of maintenance
and handling sires.
This plan has been commended for
use in Minnesota by A. J. Mcguire,
superintendent of the Northeast Elk
pertinent Station, who advocates CO.
operation among farmers owning reg.
istered bulls. In commenting on this
fact, the Farmers Tribune says:
In the main we believe that the
proposed plan is a good one. It is
substantially what Farmers Tribune
advocated four years ago, except that
we did not advise a number of farm.
ers using one bull between them. In
some localities where the herds are
small this plan might work we'll
enough, but as a general rule each in
dividual farmer can afford to own a
good bull, especially when an ex-
change can be made every two years.
This, however, is a matter of minor
importance and can readily be worked
out by the co-operators themselves
after an association has been formed.
Once in while breeders of pure.
bred cattle are inclined to discredit
such movements because they fear that
the demand for bulls would be greatly
curtailed if farmers could secure Gas
they would be able to by such CO,
operation) the full breeding value of a
bull. This, to say the least. is a
short-sighted policy. Every breeder
should encourage cooperative cattle
breeding associations, because it
would lead to a more rapid grading
up of the cattle of the whole country
Furthermore, from financial point OF
view of the breeder it would be a good
tnlng. 1t would greatly increase, in
stead of diminish, the demand for
pure-bred cattle of all kinds. To fear
an over-production of good cattle is
folly when only one-thousandth of our
cattle are pure-bred. The fact must
not be overlooked that those who have
been using pure-bred bulls in the past
would not be likely to join these as
sociations to any large extent, but
the co-operators would be men who
have not heretofore made use Of reg
istered bulls, largely because they
never fully realized the value of pure
blood for up-grading purposes.
These associations once started
would not only become consumers OF
large number of registered bulls,
but they would also, through the edu'
cational work that would spring up in
connection with them, become large
buyers of registered females. In fact
we believe that in no other way could
a greater demand for pure-bred cattle
be created than through organizations
of this kind. The present method OF
disposing of good bulls to the butcher
at the age of four years is wasteful
in the extreme and detrimental tn the