Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-12-13
To Breed up q Dairy Herd.
BREAK AWAY FROM PREVAILING Gus
ToMs-PRACTIsE METHODS THAT LEAD
To SUCCESS.

ToMs-PRACTIsE METHODS THAT LEAF
To SUCCESS.
"If had that bull back | would no
take $1,000 for him. He got big ant
hard to handle, and l let him 60 to ,
butcher for $40, but every one of bill
heifers turned out to be great mixer
and had | had the sense to have KEEP
him and line bred bis stock would hav,
had record breaking dairy, as l Cal
now we'll see." This mans experienc,
is no different from that of scores o
others, who follow the custom of keep
ing sire only one or two years at th'
most and then getting something els,
with almost sure possibility that tht
good influence of the, first sire Ia halvet
up by the second, which means In reality
the loss of all ground previously gained
The prevailing custom of community
is hard thing to overcome with new
practice, especially In the breeding ol
dairy COWS; notably where, for two OF
more generations, II had been the prac
tice or custom to ignore breed lines In
securing even the heifers to make the
dairy members good; and all the more
80 when sires were changed every year
and if sire OF dairy breeding was pro-
cured he went the next year the same as
tue brindle one had the year before, and
he was in turn followed by a yellow and
white sire of unknown ancestry because
he was cheap in price, and his calves
were to be sold for "bobs" anyway.
Such plan never increases the value
of stock beyond the range Of Gamers
prices, and now that there is an awaken
ing to the fact that dairy stock needs
the prepotency of breed ancestry be.
hind 1t the gravest danger threatens that
the old custom will be kept in partial
practice at least and the history of our
friends sire will be repeated over and
over and retrograde condition will re-
suit, and even the grades of merit will in
turn be graded or degraded, by the use
of sires of unknown quality.
Often the remark is made: 81 cannot
afford to have high.bred stock. l must
raise grades" Then all the more essen
tial is it that only sires of the best are
used and kept as long as possible. With
sire of strong blood lines, and develop
ed vitality, there will be no necessity
with grade COWS of an outcross for three
generations at least, and the third
generation will be 81 1-2 per cent of the
Intensified and reinforced blood of the
sire, and to all practical purposes the
equals of pure bred stock and at no more
cost than the common stock he had sup
posed he must always possess.
The history of all high-class breeding
and best records is where little latitude
has been given to the introduction of
new sires, keeping to the line even of
one family of breed and not getting
scared in breeding now and then heifers
back to their own sire to double the pre-
potency of the milking function.
In this vicinity there is a great de-
mand for high grades of a certain breed
of dairy stock, and month-old heifer
calf of a grade COW, If it had thorough.
bred sire from the same family breed,
brings the price of horse; but the calf
of grade COW, mated with an unknown
bred grade, brings veal prices and no
more. In this intensifying the blood of
a grade by the influence Of pure bred
lies the whole success of the uplift OF
our dairy stock from the common level
of the past; and il the customs of the
past are to prevail, with frequent change
of sires, and sires of unknown quality,
and mixtures of blood, the last condition
of this dairying will be as unsatisfactory
as the first.
For the dairyman he needs only the
one thought and purpose In mind, that
of dairy breed and type of the breed,
and to keep in that line with sires OF
strong dairy prepotency and of the same
stumbling block to him. What does
he want of q beef steer or beef in any
paying form, when twenty-months-old
heifer, we'll bred, will to-day in sight of
my house, buy three steers Of equal age.
And why should this man want to mix
dairy broeds, when he gains nothing in
production and decreases the value of
the mix" so per cent?
Along with this question comes the
matter of care and development of the
heifer from her calfhood up. Here again
custom that made the life of this little
heifer struggle for existence. sort Of
straw stack life, must be cut out, and
this calf from its first hour must with
discerning judgment be cared for as
COW as to food, shelter, care aud develop
ment; not to be fed to the fattening stage,
but the proteins in her food must be
made factor, and her life must be one of
thrift, vigor and development toward q
producing COW, 80 that when she comes
into the dairy she is in reality cow and
possessed of developing qualities.
There is no need of sacrifice of these
valuable sires, especially after they have
proved valuable getters Of high produc
ing heifers. Let him be mated with
yoke fellow and made to do very much
of the rough work of the farm, or let
him be put on power and do the pump
ing, grinding and tho like or run the
power under brake and work off the sur
plus energy that otherwise goes to ugli-
uess. Let all the dairymen of neigh
borhood breed one kind of dairy stock
and one family of 1t, and let there be, If
need be, an interchange of sires, If the
fear of inbreeding comes to cause grave
fears. A few days ago sire of notoriety
in his twelfth year was sold for 81 900 to
a company near here, made up of ten
dairy farmers, and he is to be common
property, and no one doubts that 1t will
be a profitable investment, as this sire
has a long list Of tested daughters,
which could never have happened had
he been slaughtered at two years old
because be was getting ugly and was
given no chance to put his strength into
useful occupation.
There is a great field here for farmers
to get together and line up to better
ways and change the customs that have
been part of our Inheritance and hard to
shake off. We will never realize the
full measure of our livestock industry,
especially dairying, until we come to
initiate the English farmers, who have
community breeding, and each locality
has its own breed, which stays by them
and Is in the never ending practice Of
grading up its stock BY using full bloods.
John Gould, Ohio, In Tribune Farmer.
Oentleness with Colt Pays.
Never tease or teach the young colt